


The New Normal

by Milly_Blank



Category: The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Boscha is gay and angry, Bullying, Child Abuse, Coming Out, Depression, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, F/F, Highschool Drama, Homophobia, Homophobic Language, Hospitalization, Isolation, Mental Health Issues, Mental Institutions, Self-Harm, suddenly everything is gone
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-04
Updated: 2020-10-14
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:33:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 23,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26279479
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Milly_Blank/pseuds/Milly_Blank
Summary: After the Grudgby match things have changed. More than Boscha realizes.
Relationships: Amity Blight & Boscha, Amity Blight/Boscha, Amity Blight/Luz Noceda, Amity blight/Boscha (one-sided), Boscha & Skara, Boscha & Willow Park, Boscha/Willow Park, Eda Clawthrone & Boscha, Luz Noceda & Boscha
Comments: 177
Kudos: 804





	1. Chapter 1

Boscha waited outside the school for her friends like she always did. Every morning, she'd arrive twenty minutes before class, hang out and gossip with them and torment any lessers scampering through he halls. 

Of course things were different now. Amity ditched her--ditched them. She was too busy with that miserable weak willow and Luz the human annoyance. Both wildly beneath someone like Amity Blight. But still she defended them, played a grudgby match against her to defend their honor, and cut her out of her life. All in just a few weeks.

Her friends never showed up. The bell screamed and it suddenly hit her that she'd been standing out here for nothing. She huffed pulled on her backpack straps. "Whatever. I'll give them shit at lunch. Ungrateful--" She mumbled as she headed inside.

Skara barely acknowledged her in the hallway between second and third period. She looked like she desperately wanted to look at anything but Boscha. She just mumbled a hello and kept walking. It was fine. She must have been busy or distracted. She'd ask about it at lunch. Lunch would be normal. Lunch will make things feel right again.

Her usual lunch table was empty when she arrived. Maybe the others were held up? Boscha knew a lot of them shared the same P.E. class before lunch. Maybe they had to come to the cafeteria all the way from the Demon ball fields? That had to be it. 

She got her food and sat at her and her friends' table and waited. And waited. And waited.

The bell screamed and suddenly lunch was over and Boscha's table was still empty. She watched the other students rush out to head to class but all Boscha could do was stare. She rubbed her three eyes, and sniffed. It was fine. Probably some sort of weirdly busy day for everyone. People have lives. Things come up. 

But even as she told herself everything would be fine she just left her uneaten food sitting on table and wandered slowly to her next class, not even bothering to grab her books for her afternoon classes. She just went inside and plopped into a seat in the back and stared at the front until she could finally go home. 

"Hello dear! How was sch--" Boscha's mother tried to greet her, before Boscha pushed her away and went to her room. She turned on the light and slumped against the door. She pulled her knees to her chest and looked at the trophies lining the walls. Boscha caught sight of a framed picture of her and Amity. Boscha was smirking with her arm around a very stiff, but aloof looking Amity. 

Boscha suddenly got to her feet and pulled the picture off the wall and hurled it against the door. She heard her mother's hurried footsteps coming up the stairs. "Is everything alright?! I heard glass shatter! Boscha?"

Boscha sucked in air and shook. "I-I'm FINE MOTHER! IT'S FINE! GO AWAY!" 

"Boscha dear--"

Boscha threw herself against the door. "I said LEAVE. ME. ALONE!" She slumped against the door, pressing her hands to her head. She could feel the glass under her as she grabbed the lose picture off the ground.

She looked at Amity's cold golden eyes. Tears dropped onto the picture a moment before Boscha pulled it to her chest and rocked against the door. 

* * * * *

When they weren't running drills or actively playing, no one on the Grudgby team seemed to want to talk to her. She'd call plays. They'd listen. But when it was over they all talked to each other and rarely even looked at Boscha. Was it competitive jealousy? But these people are supposed to be her friends. She had went to their birthday parties the last eight years of their lives. Now they treated her like some new kid who somehow became their captain. 

Boscha stopped bothering looking at her pentsagram....it was just a reminder of all the people who now wanted nothing to do with her. 

It's been a week of waiting for school to start alone. Walking the halls alone. Eating lunch alone. Walking home alone. 

Boscha ran into Amity and the human in the halls. The sight of Amity holding the human's hand made her furious. Furious and miserably sad. 'Why couldn't she be holding my hand?!' she thought. 'What makes the human so special?!' She desperately wanted to push them both down, and demand to know what gave them the right. But instead she scowled at them and ran away to cry in a supply closet. 

After lunch Boscha saw Skara and Willow talking by the lockers. She strode over to her hers and punched it until it opened, grabbed her books and rushed down the hallway. Neither one even seemed to bother looking at her. How is it all of her friends spending time with lesser witches made her feel so small?

* * * * *

After two weeks of silence Boscha finally broke down and sent Skara a message on Pentstagram. She demanded to know why no one will talk to her. Where everyone went during lunch. Who she thought they were. Demanded to know if they were doing this on purpose. 

Skara never answered. 

Boscha deleted her Pentsagram three days later.

* * * * *

She stopped showing up for Grudgby practice. She didn't really decide to do it. She just couldn't bring herself to face her teammates. They aren't friends anymore. She's just the person who calls the plays. They only look at her on the field. So, why bother?

He coach called her mother, asking why Boscha wasn't showing up. Asking if she was sick or had hidden an injury. Boscha had taken the raven and screamed at her coach about how stupid and useless he was and that she was better than every person on that stupid team. How they were beneath her. Less than her. Not worth her time. She was done with Grudgby. She told him to find a new captain. 

She smashed her mother's raven against the wall and screamed at her mother until she was hoarse. She smashed a hole in the wall of her room when she got back inside. Then ripped all of her gudgby trophies off their shelves. The house reverberated with the sound of polished metal being thrown against the walls. 

Boscha wailed as she stripped her walls bare. A childhood of mementos and awards littered the floor. Ultimately when every poster was shredded and all the pictures burned she pulled her blanket off her bed, curled up in it and sat on the edge of her bed and sobbed.

* * * * * *

Another month of loneliness went by. Her former friends had taken their table back. She saw the human and Amity sit with them sometimes. She looked content. She looked at the human with pure adoration. When she had looked at Boscha she only saw coldness in those beautiful gold eyes. She thought they could have been so cold only Boscha could stand them. Love them. But no...She never knew Amity...and Amity never cared about Boscha.

So she went to her new lunch spot. A quiet bench near the potions department. She ate in silence. No one looked at her when they walked by. She was a ghost.

* * * * *

Boscha doesn't remember throwing the punch. She remembers trying to get to her Counteracting Poisons class without having to see Skara, or the human, or Willow...or Amity again. Her head was down, her hands gripping her backpack's straps tightly, when someone bumped into her. Some guy on the bard track. 

"Watch it, eyeballs." He muttered. Boscha wheeled around and hit him. She jumped on him and just started hitting him. She pressed his face against the lockers and kicked him. A teacher had to pull her off of him. 

She sat in Principal Bump's office, her knuckles cut from the punches. She ran her fingers over the cuts and felt so numb. Bump was saying something, and her mother was nodding along. Boscha couldn't keep her head up. 

Her mother got up and left and Boscha followed without a thought. She was suspended for a week. Boscha didn't care. Why should she care.

So she spent a week alone in her barren room, staring at nothing, while she laid in bed. Someone brought her school work she missed. She didn't know who. She didn't care. She didn't open her bedroom door when her mother called so she slid the assignments under it.

* * * * * *

No one was there to confront her when she came back. No one to even ask why she was gone. No one looked at her. No one cared. She just went to class. Slunk into the furthest corner seat and tried to be invisible. And it worked. 

Mostly.

Of course Amity and the human had to be near her locker. Of course Amity had to be draped all over her. Of course she had to have the gull to look happy. And the human had the gull to talk to her.

"Hey Boscha." Three furious eyes turned up to meet the human's. "Um--I know it's been a while since--"

Boscha banged her head against her locker hard. The sound of denting metal bounced around the hall. Boscha pulled her head away from the locker and wheeled around to look at the human. "Since what? Since you RUINED MY LIFE?!"

The human looked scared. But not the good kind of scared. It wasn't a fear of Boscha. It was a fear FOR Boscha. "Bo-Boscha your forehead...it's bleeding."

Boscha reached up and felt a gash and pulled her hand back. Her fingers were crimson. Amity said something to the human and she bolted down the hall. 

"Boscha? Are you okay?" Amity sounded so timid. The Amity Blight she loved would have told her to pull herself together without an ounce of pity. But the new Amity apparently pitied Boscha.

"What do you care, Blight?" Boscha growled. Her blood was stinging her eye. "You never cared before..."

"That's not fair Boscha--"

"FAIR!? How about this!? Leave. Me. The. Fuck. ALONE! I don't need your pity after your girlfriend ruined my life! God I just--every time I see you with her!" Boscha started crying. She gripped her cowl in her hands and twisted it and then began to just punch the wall over and over. 

"STOP! BOSCHA! YOU'LL BREAK YOUR HANDS!"

"Shut up! You two faced little bitch! Go away! GO AWAY!" Boscha wrapped her arms around herself like cocoon and slunk to the floor. Her hands were bleeding now too. She sobbed and banged the back of her head against the wall while Amity just stood there frozen.

"Bo-Boscha Luz went to get a professor--they'll take you to the nurse okay?" Amity started to knell down next to her but Boscha pushed her away. 

"I said go away!" Boscha screeched through tears as she leaped to her feet. Amity toppled over and laid on the floor of the hallway looking up at her. 

"What's wrong?! Tell me!"

"You're so fucking blind. So stupid. I hate you." Boscha leaned against the wall a minute and looked at the green hair witch she used to call her best friend. She now knows she was never really Amity's best friend....just the one that was there...."I loved you." She said simply before walking down the hall. 

She spent the next few hours curled up and sobbing under the Grudgby field bleachers.


	2. Chapter 2

Boscha was curled up in her blankets, her eyes sore and coated in long dried tears. She laid in her bed and just stared like she did most days. This was her life now. Wake up. wash away the night's tears, go to school, talk to no one and then come home and lay in bed and cry until she fell asleep. Day after day. 

Just as Boscha started to let her eyes shut, the late afternoon sun burning her eyes through her drapes, there was a quiet knock at her door. 

"Boscha, dear?" Her mother's voice came meekly from behind the locked door.

"What?" Boscha asked hoarsely. 

"Um...Well. Your birthday is in a couple of weeks and you haven't said much about it...Fifteen is a big year and I was hoping we could talk about what you wanted to do for it? What sort of cake you wanted? Who you were inviting--"

"NO!" Boscha shouted from her bed. She wrapped her blanket around her head and pulled herself into a tight ball. "NO! NO! NO! No one is allowed here! No one! I don't want a party! Go away!"

There was a silence on the other side of the door a moment. "Boscha? Dear? Can I come in?"

"NO! I SAID TO GO AWAY! I DON'T WANT A BIRTHDAY PARTY! I DON'T WANT TO HAVE BEEN BORN! FUCKING GO AWAY!" 

More silence. "...Okay. No party. But we still need to talk, okay sweetie? It can wait but please...don't cut me out. I'm here for you, Bosch.....I love you. Even if you don't have a party I'll make you a special dinner for your birthday? Is that okay?"

"Go away." Boscha nearly whispered.

"Okay. Well...I'll go...Love you Boscha. Please know I love you." 

Boscha listened intently to her mother's footsteps retreat back downstairs and then she curled up and sobbed until she fell asleep. 

When her birthday came no one said anything. She didn't pass out any fancy invitations or brag about how amazing her party spread was going to be. It was another normal miserable day. She walked home alone and ate her 'special dinner' with just her mother in the large formal dinning room. She didn't say anything. She went to her room before her mother could bring out the cake. 

* * * * *

Between classes an upperclassman tripped her as she was coming out of the bathroom stall. She banged her head against the sink as she fell. A gaggle of girls just giggled at her. The pain wanned but not the anger. She lept up and slammed the upperclassman girl against the wall and growled in her face. The other girls pulled Boscha off of her and pushed her back to the ground then then kicked her in the ribs. 

She laid on the floor of the bathroom long after the other girls had left, sputtering and sobbing. 

When she got home her mother noticed the bruises on her face, but Boscha refused to say anything and just went to bed.

* * * * * 

Boscha didn't use her locker anymore. It left her vulerable. It was too easy to run into people at the lockers. Too easy to see Blight and her girlfriend. Too easy to see Willow and Skara laughing. So she carried all her books in her backpack all day. It made her back ache, but, at least she wasn't forced to deal with things she'd rather not. 

Apparently the human didn't get the memo she was one of those things, because the stupid girl was in front of her, preventing her from getting to her Health Potions 102 class. 

"Hi Boscha!" She said with her annoying enthusiasm, but her eyes were sad. Gods, Boscha hated that the human pitied her now.

"What do you want?" Boscha asked weakly. 

"Well um--" The human ran her hand along the back of her head and rocked on the balls of her feet. "I noticed you--um...you have a lot of brusies and stuff on your face and you look really uspet...um..are you okay?"

Boscha couldn't help but laugh. This is rich. What a miserable creature Boscha must seem for the human to be acting like this to her. "Okay? No. Human. I'm not. But that's fine. It's fine. YOU WON! But of course now you can't accept it can you? You have to prove how 'good' you are. How understanding you are. Fuck you, Luz. Leave me alone." Boscha pushed Luz away and began to walk to class. She turned around quickly. "I never want to see you or your friends' faces every again."

The human just looked at her, bit her lip, hung her head and nodded. With that Boscha hurried to class.

* * * * * * 

Boscha was eating lunch in her usual secluded spot when she spied Willow walking toward her. Anxiety clenched in her chest and she tried to make herself smaller against the ghoulberry bushes. Willow had a hesitant smle on her face as she came and stood in front of Boscha. 

"Hi there, Boscha. Lovely day isn't it?" Willow said, obvously nervous. 

"What do you want? I told the human I never wanted to see you...."

"I know. She mentioned that..." Willow sat down at the far end of the bench, on the other side of Boscha's stuffed backpack. "I just couldn't not at least try and talk to you....I know since the grudgby game--"

Boscha pulled her hands up her head and clutched it tightly. She didn't want to remember that day. How she won, but lost everything anyway. "No! Shut up! I want to fucking forget that day! Just go away, Willow! I don't want you here! Go away!"

Willow just looked at her. "No. I mean I guess you could try and make me but I doubt you'd be able to." She said firmly. "You're spiraling Boscha. Luz has tried to talk to you. She's usually the one best at these things, but since you keep lashing out at her I decided I'll give it a try. And I'm much harder to get rid of than her." 

The both just stared in the distance a moment. "Why do you care?"

"Your mother called Amity's mother. She mentioned how distant you've been--"

Boscha scoffed. "Oh great my mommy whinned at the Blights and now half-witch has taken it upon herself to show me pity." Boscha leapt to her feet and grabbed her backpack. "I don't need my mother trying to fix things. I don't care that she feels embarassed about her friendless, waste of a daughter. This is your final warning. Leave me alone."

Willow looked up at her pensively. Her eyes sharpened. "Fine. Bye Boscha." She just watched Boscha walk away and out toward the Grudgby field. 

* * * * * 

"Boscha dear?" Her mother's voice barely made it past the door as Boscha sat in the corner of her room curled up in her blankets. "Honey? You need to eat....it's nearly nine and I know you skipped dinner again....Boscha?"

"Go away." Boscha said, barely loud enough for her mother to hear. 

"Boscha? Please. I'll make you whatever you want. Please-- please eat something?"

"No! What does it matter! I'm a worthless loser! I'm garbage! GO AWAY! IM NOT EATING AGAIN! GO AWAY! LET ME WASTE AWAY IN PEACE!

"Boscha! I'm opening the door!" The doorknob was surrounded in a pink glow and suddenly the lock clicked and the door opened. Boscha's mother surveyed the state of her daughter's room. The fist sized holes in the bare walls, her bed stripped to the matress, her vanity mirror cracked. "Oh-oh Boscha...." 

"Don't look at me..." She pleaded from the corner, her blankets pulled up under her chin. "Please...don't look at me..." Boscha shook with tears. Her mother rushed over to her and wrapped her up in her arms. "...don't look at me..." Boscha meekly pleaded as she sunk into her mother's embrace. 

* * * * * 

Boscha hated the smell of the mental healer's office. It was like dried flowers and woodshavings. It made her eyes sting. Her mother held her hand while they waited in the reception area. Boscha couldn't stop her hand from shaking. She felt like a stupid child. 

"Boscha?" The nurse smiled warmly. Boscha just nodded and her mother held her close as they followed the nurse to the healing room. The room was warm, but not stuffy. Boscha's mother gently sat her down on the couch in the middle of the room, still holding her hand. The couch was comfortable. 

The healer came in after a few minutes and sat on a stool near the couch. She was an older woman with big brown eyes. "Hello Boscha. Why are we here today?" She asked, gently. 

Boscha looked up at her mother who gave a gentle nod, an encouraging smile on her face, while she squeezed Boscha's hand reassuringly. Boscha let out a slow sigh and looked at the ground. "Well...I--um I've been having problems at school..."


	3. Chapter 3

Boscha spent the next week in a mental healing facility. The healer and her mother both thought some time away from school and in a place she can talk to people with resources to help her, was for the best. She was in a wing with other kids around her age. She talked with the healers there a lot. They gave her potions she would have to take daily that they said would help her with her depression. 

There were group talk therapy sessions every couple of hours. Some were for specific things, drug addiction, child abuse, but most of the groups were a free for all. Boscha was required to sit in on at least one a day. Her first group therapy session she was sort of numb. She mostly introduced herself and then just sat there, half listening to everyone. 

Her one on one talks with the healers were nice. They listened when she talked about how lonely she'd been the last few months. How she felt guilty about more than just being cruel and she couldn't say why. How often she feels broken now that no one will talk to her. How angry and sad she felt. How worthless she felt. 

She talked about Amity a lot in group. A lot a lot. She didn't mean to, but so much of her life is tied up with that girl that she felt like a piece of her self was ripped from her by Luz. Snatched away from her one Grom Night. 

* * * * * 

She sits through two group therapy sessions on her third day. She tells herself it's because she's bored. There wasn't much to do there besides watch game shows on the crystal ball or sit through group. 

* * * * *

In group on her fifth day there Boscha tells them she's gay. 

"I'm a lesbian." Boscha says looking at her hand hold the cup of water. "I think I just realized earlier. I was sitting in my room and--Of course I was thinking about her...and--I told her I loved her. But even then I was so in denial..." 

The healer looked at her through his glasses, a gentle smile on his face. "Boscha. I am very proud of you for coming out. I know figuring out something like this is a big thing. I am so happy for you."

Boscha smiled and watched the water ripple against the edges of the cup. "Thank you. I feel like such an idiot. I was always so jealous. Ugh--my dad won't be happy. Gods, I don't know what I'll say to him....I mean I hardly see him anymore but--" Boscha sighed. 

"Hey. One step at a time, okay, Boscha? Let yourself be proud of yourself a second without worrying about the future for a second, okay?" 

"Yeah okay." Boscha smiled wide. "I'm a lesbian." She said proudly. The girl next to her gave a small congratulatory pat on her shoulder and Boscha felt a lightness she hadn't felt in a really long time. 

* * * * * 

She comes home that Saturday afternoon. Her mother had patched the holes in her wall and made her bed for her. The mirror on her vanity was still cracked but it was cleaned. It still hurt to look at her bare walls. But, she tried her best to get rid of that by putting up the little helpful charts and information guides the healers sent her home with. She taped a sign reading in large bold font: **LET YOURSELF EAT SOMETHING, BOSCHA!** on the back of her door. 

Her mother told her she could wait a few more days before going back to school, but Boscha figured she should just face the music magic and go to school on Monday. 

Boscha's mother wrapped her up in her arms during Sunday dinner. Boscha leaned into the embrace. "I am so proud of you, baby. So proud of you. I know it's been hard and it may be hard again, but I just love you so much, Boscha. My precious girl."

Boscha sniffed and closed her eyes. "I love you too mom.....If--if I told you something can you promise not to be mad? And--not to tell dad?"

Her mother nodded. "Of course, love. You can tell me anything."

"Um--I'm a lesbian."

Her mother leaned away, her hands still on her shoulders. "I am so happy you feel you can tell me that. I am so happy for you, Boscha. I want you to be happy. I want you to love who ever you want!" Suddenly she's encased in her mother's arms again. 

"I love you mom." Boscha mumbled weakly. Even after a week in treatment she can't seem to stop crying.


	4. Chapter 4

Boscha looked up at the front of Hexside's main entrance and sighed. Leaving the facility she felt so sure, so determined, that she was ready to face school again. But, now...looking at the towering, ancient building, she was having second thoughts. The other students buzz around her, rushing to get to class, while she stood almost frozen by the thought of being in that building again. But Boscha was always willing to face a challenge. 

With unsteady steps, she finally climbed the stairs and made her way into the main hall. She let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding, and decided today, since she was being brave, she'd head to her locker. 

The dent left from banging her head was still there. She absentmindedly ran her fingers along it and felt her stomach drop. The metal was crumbled and so doesn't remember really feeling any pain, just anger and annoyance that she was bleeding. Boscha sighed and pulled out some books from her bag and put them away. 

"One moment at a time. One day at a time. One moment at a time. One day at a time." She recited to herself, as she walked to her first class. Today was a new start. A chance to build her life back up. To be a happier, more fulfilled Boscha. Or so she so desperately hoped. But then again Boscha never was an optimist. 

* * * * * *

It was hard to pretend she didn't hear the whispers. She knew people would be talking. She missed a week of school after basically becoming a ghost. Even after her suspension people at least knew she attacked someone, but this time she just disappeared and now she was back with no explanation. At least she hoped there wasn't an explanation. She didn't know if anyone would figure out where she was. She wasn't even sure if she should care if people knew or not...but somehow it felt too personal. Too private. That somehow it made her seem too weak. Too broken to know how much help she had needed. How much she still needed. 

"It's okay to feel. It's okay to feel. It's okay to feel." She quietly repeated to herself as she walked to pick up her books for third period. It relieved some tension in her chest but she still felt her whole body lowly vibrating. She knew it was stress and anxiety. Her healers had told her as much, but sometimes in the facility it felt like her body was going to shake to pieces. She took several deep breaths by her locker and grabbed what she needed and darted down the hall.

She was nearly to class when she saw her. Amity Blight. She was alone for once, seemingly distracted as she wandered the halls. Her green hair was down. She hadn't seen her wear it that way before. Well, aside from changing for grudgby practice or the briefest of moments during sleepovers before the lights went out. 

It made her stomach drop.

Then she felt them. Tears. They welled up in her eyes, and Boscha couldn't stop them. She started sobbing, running past her class and into the bathroom. She slammed the stall closed and climbed onto the top of the closed toilet seat and rocked as she cried. 

* * * * *

Her usual lunch spot was occupied. She went to the only other quiet place she felt safe, under the bleachers of the grudgby field. She sat in the cold darkness of the shade of the seating, the early-winter- afternoon sun splitting through the cracks between the tapering rows of benches. Her sandwich tasted flavorless. All food did lately. No matter what Boscha did, she couldn't find any real enthusiasm like she used to. The only real sensations she's felt the last couple months were a slow grinding sadness and dull anger. But since the facility, the anger has ebbed, but that just left her with a constant numbing sadness. 

Boscha diligently choked down her sandwich. Flavorless or not, she promised her mother she'd eat at least two meals a day. Until everything else was taken from her, Boscha didn't appreciate all her mother did for her. Another thing to feel guilty about, she supposed. 

As Boscha was finishing what she was going to be capable of eating from her bag of chips she noticed a shadow in front of her. All she could do was sigh and greet her. "Hello, Skara."

"Hey." Skara says softly. "Um--"

"Yes?"

"Well--Uh...You weren't at school all last week-"

"I'm surprised you even noticed." Boscha immediately cringed at her own words. "Ugh. I mean why do you care?" She wasn't sure that was the right thing to say either. 

Skara crouched and leaned down under the bleachers, so she was no longer back lit. Her warm, sad eyes stared right at Boscha. "I-I was worried about you, Bosch...I know I we don't talk much anymore--"

"You decided that. Not me. I was fine with things the way they were." Boscha said stiffly. 

"I know. But I couldn't keep being around you. You're really cruel, Boscha. I know you thought I was too stupid to ever notice...I did. I have feelings. I know how much you hurt me and we were friends. Gus, Luz--Willow--they didn't deserve the way you treated them..."

Boscha pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her forehead against them. She clenched her eyes shut. She couldn't bare to look at Skara when she felt so weak. "I know." 

Skara let out a slight gasp. "That was easier for you to admit than I thought it'd be, to be honest..."

Boscha weakly chuckled. "You think about things a lot when you have no friends.." Fuck why can't she stop being so bitter right now? She talked about it with her healers so much about how she had to put aside bitterness to heal! But faced with Skara, who she always thought would just...be there. She was Skara. Where was she going to go? They were basically inseparable since they were four years old. Her oldest friend. But she left with Amity.

Skara's eyebrows furrowed and she sat down next to Boscha. "That's not fair." She states plainly. "You had friends but you mostly just saw us as goons to help you bully people. It took me a long time to realize that's what I was to you. I was just there to do whatever you to told me to do and Amity was just there to make you feel important--"

Boscha furiously dropped her knees and turned to face Skara. "You don't know what Amity meant to me." She said through clenched teeth. "You have no fucking idea."

Skara looked shocked for a moment, but quickly her expression shifted. She looked puzzled and a bit concerned. "Wha-what does that mean?"

Boscha took a few heaving breaths and then turned back to face the opening of the bleachers. Boscha took a few ten count deep breaths, counting in her head. "It's okay to feel. It's okay to feel. It's okay to feel." She mumbled her mantra under her breath. She was certain Skara could hear her but she didn't say anything. "I-I um had feelings for Amity..." She said quietly.

The dusty air under the bleachers seemed to still after her confession left her lips. Suddenly a tightness filled Boscha's chest. She pulled herself into a ball and sobbed. "I'm so stupid. I shouldn't have said anything. I'm so stupid." She gripped her head in her hands and rocked as she cried.

Skara's arms wrapped around her. Boscha fought her for a second but ultimately leaned into her and shook. Boscha cried, with Skara's arms awkwardly clutching her for a long moment. Boscha's tears slowed and felt Skara's arms fall as she readjusted herself to lean against Boscha instead. 

"It's okay to like girls, you know." Skara finally said. 

A wet bitter laugh escaped Boscha's lips. "Not according to my dad...or The Blights...Anytime relationships came up all he'd tell me is that he'd find me a respectable man from a prestigious family. From what Amity told me, her parents said the same thing. And as far as I knew Amity was fine with it...clearly I was wrong..."

Skara leaned against her a little more. "I know our parents introduced us to Amity because they were like business partners or whatever, but I think until all this stuff happened I didn't realize how little real control I had over who I hung out with...But at least with the dating stuff I'm straight so...I dunno. It wouldn't be the same for you--or amity. It'd be like torture. Which is not fair. Ugh..." Skara let out a soft frustrated sigh. "I don't know if I'm saying, like the right thing or whatever. I wanted to let you know that I felt like I had to stop talking to you because I didn't like the person I was around you. I wasn't a good person...I need to try and be a good person."

Boscha let out a quiet exhale. "I know....But you could have at least told me this stuff. Told me how you felt instead of up and disappearing on me and ignoring me."

Skara turned to look at Boscha with a serious expression. "Would you have listened to any of us? Or would you have just tried and shout us down until we just did whatever you wanted?"

Boscha shrunk into herself a little. "I don't know. I was going to lose it regardless. You still should have told me...."

"Probably." Skara moved to stand and stopped herself. "You good?" Boscha gave a nod. "Okay..." Skara stands, brushing sand off of her cloak. "Even after everything, I do care about you Boscha...I don't know where you were last week, but if you're not safe--"

"I am." She said firmly. Skara stared at her as if trying to find something in her eyes. "Really I am." Boscha said sincerely. "I--I just had to go someplace. Uh...clear my head. My mom knew where I was the whole time. I'm fine."

Skara looked at her another moment and then nodded. She gave Boscha a small smile. "Okay....See you around, Boscha." 

"Yeah. See you around." And with that Skara ducked out of the bleachers and back into the cold winter sun.


	5. Chapter 5

On her third day back, the human dropped a note on Boscha's desk in their shared Intro to Elixirs class. Boscha froze and stared at the folded paper in front of her, and then quickly turned to ask Luz what the meaning of this was, but the human was already sliding down into a seat at the back of the class with a strangely neutral expression on her face. Boscha grumbled under her breath and then turned her attention back to the note.

Boscha stared at it long enough she was certain someone must have noticed how still she had become. After her long stalling, she quickly clutched the paper from the desk and unfolded it under the tabletop, to hide it from prying eyes. 

_Boscha,_

_I'm sorry if this is weird. I just figured, since the last few times I tried to talk to you in person didn't work out so well, I would reach out this way. An old fashioned classroom note!_

_I still think we need to talk in person. Maybe after school today? It'd just be me. If that's okay, just let me know before school lets out, otherwise I'll just go home. It's no big deal if you don't want to talk. I'd understand._

_I also understand what it's like to feel alone. I do Boscha. Please, I just want to make sure you're okay...well I know you're probably not. You don't seem like you are. But...I don't know. I just want to help you be okay._

_Well...Talk to you later! (or not! that's okay too!)_

_-Luz_

Boscha read and re-read the note several times before feeling someone's eyes on her. She looked up over her shoulder and saw Luz looking at her with that unusual neutral expression. Their eyes met and for a moment Boscha thought about cursing at the human and telling her she didn't need her charity...but instead she took a deep breath and gave the human a firm nod. A goofy grin grew on Luz's face. She returned the nod and turned her attention back to the front of class.

Boscha folded the note and clutched it between her fingers. She twisted it in her hands and waited for class to end. 

* * * * * *

"I was looking at that note for like five minutes before I noticed you looking at me. Were you just staring at me the whole time?" 

The human jumped at Boscha's voice and quickly turned around to face her. "Hey Boscha!" She put on a warm smile, flapped her arms against her thighs and rocked a bit on the balls of her feet. "And no! ...I mean I don't think I was staring at you for five minutes...Oh geez was I staring at you for five minutes?..." Luz seemed to get lost in her sudden concern. 

"Luz!" Boscha said sharply. She was tired and nauseous from her potions and just wanted to know what the human had to say. She was certain she'd spend the whole night running the words over in her head, understanding they'll be just as thought provoking as Skara's were. But, right now she wanted to just go home and crawl into bed and go to sleep. 

"Sorry about staring..." She said shyly. "I guess I wanted to see how you'd react to reading the note. I wanted to make sure you didn't jump over a desk and deck me...I dunno...That's stupid..."

Boscha sighed and leaned against the bricks of the front of Hexside. "No. That's -it's understandable. I've almost punched you a few times and I-- haven't been...exactly--stable the last couple months..."

Luz nods and leans back onto the wall next to her. "Look Boscha...I never meant for everyone to ignore you. I didn't. I just wanted to help Willow. This wasn't some revenge or something, if that's what you've been thinking."

"I mean...I did at first...it's something I would have done. Become friends with the person I don't like's friends and manipulate them until they abandoned her. Fuck, I'm awful...and paranoid." Boscha rubbed her third eye with the heel of her palm and let out a long breath. 

"I mean...You were awful...yeah..." Luz scratched her chin. "But that's not the point right now. Um...I just wanted to let you know that I'm here if you need to talk...or just need someone to just be there. I can see that you've been having a hard time. I know how lonely it can be when no one seems to want to be your friend."

Boscha looked at Luz and watched her solemnly stare off into the distance for a moment, then turned her eyes back down to her feet. "I guess I do too. Not just the last couple months...all my life. I'm realizing no one really wanted to be around me--they were forced to be. Either my parents forced them to or I did..."

"Skara still cares about you, though!" Luz says brightly. If it were anyone else it would sound forced but, for some reason, the human was just that enthusiastic. "She didn't feel right being around you...but she cares about you."

"Yeah. I know. She told me....I feel stupid for how little I trust people to tell me how they really feel...because I made them think they can only say what I want to hear. Ugh. Sorry I sound like I'm talking to my heal--uh..." Boscha clenched her hood in her hand and twisted the fabric. 

Luz saw her distress and turned to face her and placed her hands gently on top of Boscha's tense ones. "Hey. If you had to get help I am so glad you got it, okay? I'm not going to say anything or judge you. I promise. I am proud of you for taking a step." Luz nearly whispered. "I've been to my share of 'healers' back in the human realm. I know how scary it can be...but please know, healing is good. Change, especially for the sake of your own mental health....is good, Boscha." The human looked at Boscha with her soft brown eyes that radiated gentle sincerity. 'Is this what Amity saw? Is this why Amity chose her instead?' Boscha thought for a moment before shaking the thought away. 

Boscha lets her eyes fall from the intensely gentle eyes in front of her and felt sadness bubble up into her chest. "I know." Her voice wobbled. "I um..." Boscha sniffed, trying to will her tears into not falling. "...I had to go to a facility...uh..That's where I was last week..and um...I spent a lot of time talking and thinking about stuff. You're the first person who knows other than my mom....not even--even my dad knows. He--he would think I was an embarrassment...I don't know why I'm telling you...I guess I can't process it all and I just have to say something to someone. Might as well be you..." She let out a weak wet chuckle. The tears had started, despite her furious protests. 

Luz looked at her for a moment and then wrapped Boscha up in a tight hug. Boscha's tears silently fell as she let Luz hold her. The human mumbled quiet reassurances and rocked her gently. They stood there, their breaths visible in the winter air, Boscha quietly crying, while Luz held her for a long time.

Eventually Boscha broke the embrace and reached up and wiped the tears from her eyes with her wrist. "Ugh. I'm sorry...I haven't been able to stop crying lately." She mumbled.

"Depression's a bitch, huh?" Luz said, with a warm grin. 

Boscha let out a quiet, snorting chuckle. "Yeah it really is." They shared a smile and then Boscha turned her eyes back to the ground. "Um--About you and Amity..."

"Yeah?" Luz sounded uncertain where this was going.

Boscha turned her three eyes back to the human in front of her. "...I just--I hope you make her happy. Please make sure she's happy?"

Luz looked at her, her eyes wide a moment, then she nodded furiously. "Of course! I promise. That's all I'll ever want. " Boscha looked at her, looking at those huge bright eyes. She could tell it was true. This stupid human would do anything to make Amity happy. So, Boscha simply nodded.

"Good." Boscha replied, a hint of stain in her voice. "I um--I have to go. My mom told me not to take too long coming home or she'll worry so..." 

"I get ya!" Luz stood back from Boscha a little and simply smiled at her. "Be safe okay?"

"I will." 

Boscha turned and started to head down the large stone stone stairs and away from Hexside when Luz called out. "Boscha wait!"

Boscha turned on her heel and looked up at Luz, who's still standing at the top of the steps. "What?"

Luz was nervously rubbing her hands together. "If--if you want I can give you my scroll number? You know...in case you need to talk? I was serious about being here for you. I've been through stuff like this and I know if I had someone to talk to besides my mother, or a really disinterested school counselor, I might not have had such a shitty time through most of middle school..." Luz shook her head, seemingly physically separating herself from a memory. "Anyway. No pressure. You probably still hate me and stuff...but I dunno. Just a thought."

Boscha looked at her a moment and then gave a small nod. "Okay."

"Okay!" With a smile, Luz swiftly pulled a notepad from her uniform pocket and scribbled out the numbers, ripped out the page, and handed it to Boscha. "Like I said...no pressure." 

Boscha looked at the slip of paper in her hands and nodded again before heading down the steps. She ran the digits between her fingers the whole walk home.


	6. Chapter 6

In the middle of her second week back a group of girls followed her on her way home from school. Three upperclassmen. Boscha couldn't tell if she recognized them, faces and names blurred together for her lately. All she knew was they made her nervous, even while they joked with each other like she wasn't even there. 

Suddenly, about two blocks from Hexside one of them turned to Boscha. "So! What really happened that week you disappeared?" She asked, clearly no caring about tact. Boscha looked at the other two girls, who were hiding obvious grins. 

"I heard you were kidnapped and held for ransom!" one of the other girls supplies. 

Boscha let out a little dismissive laugh. "I wasn't held for ransom. "

The third girl pressed her shoulder against Boscha, while sending a look to the others. "Come now! Of course she wasn't held for ransom, Lana! Don't be stupid. Her dad would never care enough about someone like her to pay a ransom!" She grinned. 

Boscha felt her stomach twist, as she dropped her head, and clenched her teeth. "I bet her dad probably found out she was queer and sent her to one of those Cure Coven places!" She turned to look at Boscha, the other two girls flanking her. "Is that right? Daddy try and fix his little queer?"

Boscha could feel tears leaking into her eyes. The facility was the first time Boscha admitted she was gay. The first time she was truly honest...now they...they can't twist that moment of pride like that. They couldn't just snatch that accomplish from her like this. Making her feel wrong for feeling free. Boscha drew her hands into tight fist.

"Sto-stop it!" Boscha fumed. 

"Or what? The little lesbian gonna fight us?" The other two girls giggled and leaned against Boscha, one of them grabbing her hood in their hands. 

"I bet I know what happened!" One of them supplies. "I bet she got so sad about being a worthless dyke that they made her go to a nuthouse! I bet she cuts too! Lemme see your wrists!" The girl started pawing at Boscha's sleeves. 

Boscha pulled her arm away. "Leave me alone! Go away!" 

Then the girl pushed Boscha into the one next to her and that one sent an elbow to Boscha's ribs. "Make us!" The girls all laughed. 

Bosch swung wildly at the girl in front of her and hit her in the jaw. The girl stumbled back but stayed standing. The girls at Boscha's sides grabbed her arms and pushed her to the ground, her arms pinned behind her back."That was a big mistake you dyke bitch." The girl spat. She kicked Boscha in the stomach and she crumbled. The girls were still holding her arms behind her back, and close to wrenching them. It hurt so bad.

Suddenly Boscha was pushed to the ground and three sets of boots started kicking her indiscriminately. All Boscha could do was cover her head with her arms and wait for them to stop. 

* * * * * *

Boscha sobbed as she curled up against a tree. Her body shook as she wept. Her ribs hurt so much. She let out a wail of pain as she pulled her knees to her chest, feeling the sharp pang in her ribs. With shaky hands, she summoned her scroll and started fumbling to input the numbers.

Her thick, heavy tears blurred the screen as she heard it ring. 

_"Hello! Luz here!"_ The human answered, her joyous enthusiasm soaking her greeting. 

"...Um...Luz...it--its Boscha..."

_"Boscha? Wow! I'm so glad you called--"_

"Luz. I'm scared." Boscha leaned against the rough bark of the tree and took a shuddering breath. 

_"What happened?"_ Luz's tone became much more muted. _"Are you okay?"_

Boscha sobbed quietly for a moment. "...I--I got jumped after school...I--I don't know what to do. My--my mom is out of town until tomorrow...I--don't want to be alone."

_"Where are you?"_ Luz asked simply. 

Boscha sniffled and looked around. "I don't know...The woods...."

There was a the sound of rustling on the other end for a minute then Luz spoke again. _"Send me your scroll location and I'll come get you. "_

"Oh--okay...Okay..." Boscha made a circle around her scroll. 

_"Got it. You're not too far away. I'm on my way, okay?"_

"Okay..." Boscha softly answered. She then closed her eyes and waited for Luz to find her.

* * * * *

She leaned on Luz's shoulder as she limped into the Owl House. They stumbled to the couch and Luz gently placed Boscha down. "Lemme get you some ice. We can at least ease the swelling on your face until Eda gets back, and she can look at your ribs." Boscha nodded with a slight grimace, as tears started to flow again. Luz quickly grabbed a dish towel, and drew something in her notepad and in an instant she had a makeshift ice pack. "Here you go." She gently placed it against Boscha's swollen third eye. Boscha put her hand on the towel full of ice and held it against the darkening bruise. 

"Thank you." Boscha said weakly. Luz sat down on a chair next to her, close enough to reach but not so close as to smother her. For such a bizarrely chaotic person, sometimes Luz seemed to just know when to slow down and measure things out. Boscha turned her eyes to the floor. "I'm sorry about calling you so suddenly and making you come get me."

Luz waved her hand. "Nah! Don't be silly! I told you I'd be there. So I'm being there." She gave a warm smile. "Did you want some tea or something?" 

"T-tea would be nice." Boscha quietly replied. 

"Some tea coming up." Luz gave Boscha's knee a little pat and she rushed back to the kitchen.

Quickly, Boscha tuned out the sounds of Luz's puttering around making tea and just stared at the ground. The world grew fuzzy and suddenly only the spot in front of her remained. Her chest grew tight, and tears leaked from her eyes. She was trembling but she couldn't bring herself to move. Those girls' taunts played in her head. Their swarmy disgust at the very idea that Boscha even existed. Their wild laughter as they left her sputtering and crying on the sidewalk. 

Then, seemingly in an instant, her vision was obscured by a pair of big, sad, brown eyes. Her view shifted again and suddenly Luz was in front of her, crouched on one knee. She was saying something but the words sounded far away, muffled by static. Then Luz held a steaming tea cup in front of her. She gently reached out and let Boscha's hand touch the warm cup. Warmth. Then suddenly Luz's voice was there. 

"Boscha? Feel that warmth?" Boscha managed a weak nod, and Luz's smile grew. "Good. Now what are some other things you feel?"

Slowly, Luz walked Boscha through grounding techniques and eventually Boscha felt present again. Her whole body felt so sore. Even putting aside the injured ribs and bruises...she just felt so done. So tired. So weak. 

Luz watched Boscha take a sip of her now luke-warm tea. She had taken a seat next to Boscha on the couch, and was resting a hand on Boscha's leg, giving gentle pats, either out of nerves or to continue grounding her, Boscha wasn't sure which. 

Boscha let out a long breath. "Those girls called me a queer." Luz's hand stilled. "They said they thought my dad sent me away to fix me and that's why I missed that week of school." Boscha sniffed and looked up at Luz. "They called me a dyke who belongs in a nuthouse, pushed me to the ground and kicked me..." Suddenly Boscha leaned forward and clutched the front of Luz's shirt. The human looked down at her confused. "I am so sorry, Luz. I am so so so sorry." 

"F-for what? What those girls did to you--that wasn't your fault." 

"No! I'm sorry for who I am! I'm just like those girls! I'm a bully! I'm a fucking plague!" Boscha sobbed. "I've done so many cruel things Luz...I-I deserved this..."

Luz pulled her into a tight embrace. "No. no no." She whispered softly. "None of that, Boscha. You were the victim of a hate crime. Don't you dare say you deserved it." Luz could seem to feel Boscha about to argue and continued. "Look--you haven't come out to me but...even if you aren't gay-- those girls sure wouldn't care. And they certainly aren't some cosmic retribution for you being kinda of a shitty person, Boscha. Don't give assholes like them that much power." 

Boscha wept into Luz's shoulder. They stayed that way for a long while, until the door slammed open, and Eda the Owl Lady stood in the doorway looking exhausted. "Gods I hate customer service." Boscha pulled away from Luz an wiped her tears. Luz just gave Eda a look. "What happened?"

"Eda this is Boscha." Eda closed the door behind her, and slowly strode into the living room proper.

Eda studied Boscha carefully, her bright gold and grey mismatched eyes looking her up and down. Her skeptical expression dropped. "What happened, kid?" 

"Uh--Some girls...um..." Boscha's eyes dropped to the ground. "..Um--beat me up for being gay..." Boscha admitted tearfully. "...I never told any kids I was...but somehow it's like they knew and um...I'm so scared that everyone knows somehow."

Eda put up a hand. "That's not important right now kid. One thing at a time, okay?" She gave a soft fanged smile. 

Boscha sniffed. "Right. One moment at a time. One day at a time. One moment at a time. One day at a time." She repeated her mantra a few times, while Eda quietly gestured for Luz to brew more tea. 

When she saw Luz was in the the kitchen she turned back to Boscha. "Now. Did they hurt you bad?" She eyed the makeshift ice pack left melting on the floor. 

"My knees are scuffed and bruised and my ribs hurt a lot."

Eda's eyebrows raised. "Really?" She raised a hand toward Boscha's ribs. "May I?" Boscha nodded. Eda pressed her fingertips gently to Boscha's ribs and Boscha let out a small gasp of pain. "Sorry." Eda said regretfully. "Okay. Let me see what I can do. I have some healing potions somewhere. If all else fails I can probably whip you something up. I'd do some healing magic, but there's nothing left in the tank." She giggled to herself as she dug around a cabinet by the crystal ball. 

She pulled out a large vial of an amber liquid and a few small containers of a blue-green liquid. "Alright so this one here is a regeneration elixir and these babies are for the pain and swelling." She glanced at Boscha's orange Potions track tights. "But you probably know that, right?"

Boscha gave a small nod. "I'm taking a healing potions class this semester." 

Eda smiled. "I was in potions track too. Well...I mean I was unofficially on every track but who's gonna worry about the distinction." She watched Boscha carefully drink the amber elixir and her body glowed slightly. A small gasp escaped Boscha's chest and she shuddered with pain. "It's okay kid, that's just the bruising on your ribs fading. It hurts like a bitch." She gave a weak chuckle. She hands Boscha one of the small blue containers. "This will help." Boscha downed it immediately. 

Boscha looked down at the glass bottle in her hand and rolled it around nervously between her fingers. "Thank you." Said weakly. 

"Of course, kid. Don't mention it." Eda gave a warm smile as she grabbed the empty elixir bottle and not so delicately tossed it into a pile in the corner of the room. She left the smaller container in Boscha's hands, seemingly noticing fiddling with it was soothing her. 

They shared a comfortable silence until Luz came in with a tray of tea and tiny cookies. She grinned as she plopped the tray down and sat next to Boscha. The human gave her a gentle smile and began sipping on her cup of tea.

Boscha smiled a little to herself and listened to Eda and Luz animatedly chat about their days, while she just enjoyed the gentle warmth of The Owl House.


	7. Chapter 7

The next day Luz met up with her after school. She had seen Boscha leaving and gently gestured for her to come with her. Boscha was confused, but Luz just smiled. "I'm here to walk you home. Well, if you want me to. I dunno seemed like a good idea.. considering." 

Boscha looked at the mass of kids climbing down the stairs and away from Hexiside. She took a deep breath and then wrapped her scarf around her neck. "Okay. Thank you, Luz." Boscha stood awkwardly a moment before just turning her attention to the ground and heading down the stairs. She heard Luz's footsteps follow and stuffed her hands into her coat pocket.

Luz came around to her side and matched her stride to Boscha's. "So how was school?" Luz asked, a gentle smile on her face. 

Boscha turned her head to look at the human a moment and then turned her attention back forward. "Fine. Uh--those girls didn't hassle me again today, if that's what you're asking."

Luz's smile loss it's toothiness as it ran away from her eyes. "I know."

Boscha cocked her head. "What does that mean?"

Luz's shoulders tightened. "I made sure they didn't come near you."

Boscha stopped in her tracks. "Luz. What does that mean?"

The Human rubbed the back of her head and looked away from Boscha. "Uh--I sorta heard them saying stuff about you in the bathroom before second period and uh...I may have lost my temper....and froze them to a toilet...." Boscha just stared at her, mouth agape. "...And punched one...She kept saying really awful slurs." Luz looked incredibly intense for a moment. Then she gave a sheepish smile to Boscha. "Anyway while they were there I told them to leave you alone."

"Yo-you did? What? why? What were you thinking?!" Boscha growled. "Wha-what if that makes them pick on me more?! Luz!"

Luz put up her hands in front of her. "Sorry! Sorry I got a little caught up in the moment! But! That's one of the reasons I stuck around and offered to walk you home! I figure two of us together....you'd be safer that way. " Luz rubbed one hand over the other. "I wanted to walk you home, make sure something like what happened yesterday never happens to you again."

Boscha looked into Luz's eyes. This stupid human. Why is she so...so...Luz about everything! This stupid sugary chivalry! Ugh! It's annoying. It's the same thing she did for Willow. Throwing herself into a situation without thinking about the consequences, because she simply cared too much. So frustrating!

The tension in Boscha's body dropped as the the building anger in her faded. She let out a long breath. "Okay. Luz. Thank you. But please....just--tell me that shit was happening and maybe warn me and then...offer to walk me home without taking my shit in your hands, okay?" 

"Right!" Luz nodded furiously and gave a strange human salute. "Of course! From now on, no more reckless Luz Noceda! This girl won't act without thinking!"

Boscha snorted and started chuckling. "Don't make oaths you can't keep, Luz." Luz gave her a little crooked grin. "Come on, let's keep going." Boscha started heading toward the mansion district with Luz right beside her. Then suddenly Boscha stopped. "Wait...are those girls still frozen to a toilet?"

Luz's face scrunched up into thought a moment, then she just shrugged. "I dunno." They gave each other a look and then both started laughing loudly. Their laughter continued as they started off walking again. 

* * * * * 

They stood on the doorstep of Boscha's large home. Despite its size it looked less imposing than the houses surrounding it. Luz seemed to notice her house looked less stark than the others, because she seemed puzzled. "My mom designed the house herself. She's a big wig in the construction coven. My dad's never here to complain so she went whole hog on the thing. I'll admit it feels more...warm...than a lot of her peers'. " 

Luz gaped a minute. "Man...high society sounds like it really sucks, to be honest." 

Boscha chuckled. "It sucks hard. Ugh." She rubbed her arm. "Did you want to come in for a minute? Uh...maybe I dunno keep talking about stuff?...It's fine if you can't or don't want to or whatever..."

"Sure! I got nothing but time today! Well...I have potions homework! Maybe we just chat and do that?! I know you're really good at potions and stuff!"

Boscha blushed a little. "Well--I'm okay...I was near top of my class before...uh..everything." Her eyebrows furrowed. "Uh-- we can do that. I uh--come in..." Boscha opened the door and gestured to walk in. 

The human bounced in, seemingly bursting with nervous energy. "Oooooh Boscha's house!" Boscha chuckled softly and followed her in. 

They quickly dropped their bags on the kitchen table and Boscha grabbed some drinks for them. For the first few minutes they awkwardly filled out their potion lab reports in silence. 

Boscha finally grunted and rested her head in her hands. "I didn't force you to be here, right?"

Luz looked up for her work confused. "What? No." She tilted her head. "Why?"

Boscha grunted. "Okay this sounds stupid. But I feel weird like...you're hanging out with me...so naturally I must have made you do it? Like...um--I'm strong arming you? I did that a lot when I--before and..."

Luz turned in her chair to face Boscha. "Slow down, Boscha, okay? I'm here because I want to be! I'm your friend." She takes a moment and adds. "Willingly." She smiled a bright smile.

"But why?...I mean...I guess you've seen me at my worst...in more ways than one...But, why bother with me? Why want to be friends with me?"

Luz shrugged. "You may have been mean, but you're trying not to be. And the less mean you are, the more I've seen the passionate, brave person you are. You can be stubborn and brash but you also take no shit, are smart and talented. You, Boscha, are prime friend material." Luz's grin grew wide. 

Boscha just looked at her smile, and felt a smile grow on her face in kind. "You know I've been called lots of things, Luz, but 'Passionate' is not one of them." She chuckled. 

"Well I couldn't think of a better way to phrase 'scary but like in a good way' so I settled on 'passionate'. " They both chuckled at that. "Seriously Boscha. Please don't think you're like subconsciously manipulating me or something. Okay?"

Boscha looked at her a moment and then gave a nod. "Okay." Boscha turned her head back to her schoolwork. "Uh...how did your night vision elixir lab go?"

"Oh wow! Funny story..." 

The two chatted until the sun started to set and soon it was time for Luz to head to the Owl House. Luz finished packing up her bag and slipped on her coat, then Boscha walked her to the door. Luz stood in the door way a second. "Uh...So you know, Amity usually has clubs or tutoring or whatever until early evenings so um-- I have afternoon right after school free...um.."

"Luz, are you offering to walk me home from school everyday?" Boscha cocked an eyebrow. 

"Yeah?" Boscha gave her a stare. "I mean...it'd be a chance to keep building our friendship! Plus you know...you'd always have backup. I dunno. You don't have to. And I'm sure some days you won't want or need me to, but I'm here."

"Fine." Luz nearly did a fist pump but managed to subdue the gesture somewhat. "But fair warning...I can been in a mood after school..."

"Boscha? Being moody?!" Luz said, in a tone that suspiciously sounded like sarcasm. 

"Are you sassing me, Luz?" Boscha smiled to herself. 

Luz grinned. "Yep." She suddenly turned on her heel and started down the porch. "See you at school tomorrow Boscha!" She shouted back cheerfully. 

"See ya Luz!" Boscha called after. She watched the girl bounce down the long drive way and out the gate, into the distant twilight.


	8. Chapter 8

"--And the plant monster juice was all over the walls and some of the human stuff in the corner we were sorting! Mom--I mean, Eda wasn't mad, thankfully! Though I did have to spend a lot of time cleaning. But that's the price of magic!"

Boscha smiled as she listened to Luz tell her about her weekend. Luz had been walking Boscha home for a little over a month, and Boscha never thought she'd feel so comfortable around the energetic human. 

"So what? Your glyph just spontaneously created a eighteen foot tall plant monster?" Boscha asked, amusement all over her face. 

"Yes?...is it not supposed to? It was a plant glyph....I think..."

"Uh that sounds more like summoning magic..." Boscha postulated while her and her companion's feet crunched through the thin layer of snow. 

"Willow can make plant monsters..."

Boscha scoffed. "Yeah, well, Willow isn't normal." Luz gave her a look. "I'm not being mean! I mean it! She's not normal. She's like unnaturally powerful...it isn't fair..." Luz kept looking at her, but her expression shifted to one Boscha couldn't read. For some reason it made Boscha flustered so she tried to ignore that and focus at the point at hand. "...Anyway that's besides the point. The glyph didn't do what you expected it to, and that's something to think about."

"Hmm like I mixed two symbols together somehow or something?" Luz tapped her chin. 

Boscha shrugged. "Maybe."

"Then more testing is required!...Uh...maybe not in the house this time though.." Boscha gave a little chuckle. "Did you wanna come hang out at the Owl House tomorrow? Eda can give you a ride home after."

Boscha had spent a few afternoons over the last month at the Owl House, hanging out with Luz. It was functionally the same as if Luz came to her house, but for some reason The Owl House felt like a treat. Like a warm gentle cocoon to recharge in. Even when it was chaotic, it was stable. It felt like a place her mother tried to build for her, but somehow could never achieve.

"Sure." Boscha tried to sound nonchalant about it, the look on Luz's face made it clear that she could tell how excited Boscha was at the prospect of spending time at The Owl House. 

As they reached Boscha's door Luz's expression shifted. She shuffled her feet a little and twiddled her thumbs. Boscha simply sighed. "What is it Luz?" She was a little annoyed that the human seemed to still be apprehensive about saying certain things to her, but with her track record who could blame her? "Out with it."

"Well um....Amity has been asking about you. I think she wants to maybe try and make amends? I mean she hasn't said exactly what she'd want to say to you, but I know she wants me to set something up...if you want! I know...uh...Amity is a sore spot."

Boscha leaned against the side of her house. "What do you mean? She's not a sore spot. I don't care either way." She pretended to inspect her nails while Luz gave her a knowing look. "What?"

"Boooschhaaa" Luz lightly scolded. "What have we said about being honest with your feelings?"

The three-eyed witch scoffed, annoyed, but let out a breath. "'Without honesty there can't be healing'...." Boscha sighed and rubbed her eyes with her palms. 

"That's right!" Luz gave a warm smile. "Look, I know how you felt about Amity--"

All three of Boscha's eyes widened in surprise. "You--you do?"

Luz grinned. "Yeah. I'm not blind, Boscha. Plus you know that whole 'make sure amity is happy' thing sounded like a uh... like more than just friendly concern." Luz rubbed the back of her neck. "But that's okay! No one is gonna judge you for having feelings!"

Boscha looked down at her feet. "This is awkward....I mean you're her girlfriend..."

"And you're my friend. I want you to be able to heal and Amity wants that too. At least I think she does. I mean I guess she could also just be looking for closure. I dunno. But know I'll be there to support you!"

Boscha let a small smile slip to her face. "Thanks, Luz." 

"Of course!"

"Wait! Does--does she know how I felt?"

Luz shrugged. "I don't know. But, regardless I think it'd be helpful for you both. But take your time. You can talk to her when you're ready. No rush."

Boscha fiddled with her hands. "...no rush..." She mumbled to herself. She turned her attention back to the human. "Thank you, Luz...I'll um--can you let her know I'm ready to talk when she is?"

Luz gave an enthusiastic nod. "Of course! I'll let her know when I see her later! I can scroll you after we talk about it, okay?" Boscha nodded. Luz put her hand on her shoulder gently. "I'm proud of you, Boscha."

Boscha huffed and looked away from Luz. "I--I haven't even done anything yet..."

The human shrugged. "You're still trying! Even if things don't work out how you want or if things get messy, at least you tried to be a better person!"

Boscha just rubbed her arm awkwardly. "I guess...I'll talk to you later, Luz. I think I need to think about what I'm going to say to Amity... Thank you."

The human pulled her into a tight hug, that Boscha found herself surprisingly eager to return. Luz would sometimes joke that Boscha was 'touch starved' but each time Luz hugged her it felt less and less like a joke.

* * * * * 

Boscha and Luz shuffled in from the light snow storm and into the living room of the Owl House. Boscha let out a long sigh and plopped her backpack by the door. "Gods it's cold." Boscha muttered as she ran up to the lit fireplace. "Precious warmth." She said with a sigh. 

Luz was right behind her, holding her gloved hands out in front of the flickering fire.

Eda wandered in from a back hallway with a box of human items. She spotted Luz and Boscha hovering by the fire and shuffled the box around so she could manage a small wave. "Hi there kids!" She smiled, her fang poking into her bottom lip. 

Boscha waved back. "Hi Eda!" Luz hopped up and down. "It's snowing! Like a bunch out!" 

Eda snickered as she plopped her box of human things on floor. "I see that."

"I am so happy it's regular snow, and not like...I dunno...poison snow!" Luz chirped as she turned her back to fire to warm it. "I was so afraid it'd be like the first time I saw rain on the boiling Isles....I miss regular rain..."

"What's human rain like?" Boscha asked, confused. 

"Um. Like cool and refreshing. Usually. It can get really cold and really hard, but it's usually so nice! I loved just splashing in the puddles and dancing in a dourpour. My mami used to say I'd catch a cold but I never cared. It was so fun..." Luz's eyes got cloudy with the beginning of tears and her head dropped to her chest. 

Boscha reached out, and tentatively put a hand on Luz's shoulder. "You okay, Luz?" She asked, softly. 

Luz sniffed and nodded. "Yeah...I miss her..."

Eda looked at Luz with a sympathetic sadness. "Hey kid. Why don't you and Bosch help me sort through this human junk? Maybe you can find some weird human thing to tell us all about. I know how you like to talk about things you like."

Luz nodded again, and plopped down on the floor by the box. Boscha sat next to her and noticed Luz's eyes were bright again. This girl was resilient. 'Why did I ever want to bully her?' Boscha found herself thinking. 

Luz started pulling out items. A giant fake hand made of some sort of squishy foam, something called a 'Vee-cee-ar', a big fake fish mounted to a plaque with a moving mouth that sang. Luz informed the witches it was moved by a human invention called 'battery power' and that it was basically human technology that Luz had no idea how to start to explain. So Eda and Boscha just nodded like they understood and they kept digging. 

As they moved stuff, an item that was too long for the box that had been sticking up against the side, began to slip and suddenly Boscha noticed a familiar set of black and white keys. "What's that?" Boscha pointed to the long black item tipping across the box.

"Oh that? That's an electric keyboard!" Luz pulled it out and flipped it over, so the keys were on the ground. She pulled back a latch and apparently saw what she was looking for and tipped it key-side up again and flicked a switch on the front. A small bit lit up and Luz started running her fingers randomly across the keys, the noise of a piano coming out of it. 

"Woah....a tiny piano?" Boscha said simply. She scooted up on her knees and hovered over the keys. She looked at Luz. "May I?" 

"Sure!" 

Boscha ran the scales still ingrained in her after all these years. She then began playing a few chords and piecing her way through a song she still remembered some of. A smile bloomed on her face as the nearly forgotten joy of her fingertips on a piano filled her chest. 

"Wow! Boscha! I didn't know you played piano!" Luz bounced against the back of her legs with excitement. 

"Yeah." Boscha nervously rubbed her arm. "I used to take a lot of lessons and do recitals and stuff...but then I found out I was good at Grudgby, and my father started getting on my case about focusing on school...then all my spare time got filled up with my social calendar....I just was so busy..." Boscha looked down at the black and white keys and gently ran her fingers against them. "...I didn't realize how much I missed playing..."

Luz looked at the keyboard then at Eda giving a small smirk. Eda gave a little nod and Luz picked up the keyboard and handed it to Boscha. "Why don't you keep it! It obviously makes you happy!"

Boscha put up her hands. "Oh no...don't you have to like sell that? Won't that eat into your profit margins or something?"

Eda let out a loud bark of laughter. "Profit margins...good one kid." She looked at Boscha's confused face. "Oh. You're serious. Look, kid, don't worry about me. I'll get by without selling one tiny piano thing. Consider it a gift." She put a hand on Boscha's shoulder. "We insist."

Boscha felt tears build up in her eyes. She took the keyboard with shaky hands. "Thank you." She put it in her lap and just started running her hands along the keys, seeking a melody. 

"Wanna see something cool?" Luz nudged Boscha gently. Boscha watched Luz lean over her and press a button the front of the piano and a little metronome sound began to play. "Metronome setting. You can set the beats per minute. Luckily a lot of these things are pretty samey when it comes to interface so it looks like you just press this button until it's at the tempo you want."

Boscha let out a little excited noise. "Cool!" 

Luz grinned and pressed another button and a slow bosa nova beat played on the piano. "And it has BEATS!" Luz did a silly little dance on her knees to the beat. Boscha giggled and started fiddling on the keys, improvising something to go with the beat. Suddenly Luz and Eda were up and dancing to the nonsense tune Boscha was making up as she went along. And it was so much fun. 

As her little improv session ended and the others stopped dancing, Luz gave Boscha a big strong hug. Boscha chuckled and patted her shoulder, trying not to cry over something as silly has being given a gift. But it felt so important. She wasn't sure why. 

From that day afterward Boscha spent her nights before bed playing her little electric piano.


	9. Chapter 9

Because of Amity's busy schedule, she and Boscha didn't get a chance to meet up until the middle of the next week. The snowy, frosty weather from the previous week was gone, replaced with a bitter, dry cold. It made it feel like the moisture in your lungs would freeze if you spent too much time outside. The sky was cloudless and gray, and Boscha felt it was appropriate weather. 

A bitter day for the bitter end of a bitter friendship. Boscha didn't want to be spiteful or angry with Amity. She had hoped her resentment of Amity would lessen the more she got to know Luz, and it had, but there was still some in there apparently, because Boscha was antsy. She woke up to meet Amity and Luz outside the library like they'd agreed, and her whole body was just heavy with a thick aimless sadness. 

The plan was they would both get there an hour before class and they'd have their discussion, then time to process and move on with their days. But Boscha felt like the morning was going to be a lot longer than she'd hoped. 

She got to the Library to see Amity pacing in front of the entrance while Luz simply leaned against a pillar with a slightly worried look on her face. Boscha took a deep breath, and repeated her calming mantras before finally waving to Luz. "Hey." Boscha is all she could manage, as she got in earshot. 

"Hi Boscha!" Luz greeted, joyfully, if a bit muted compared to her usual enthusiasm. 

Amity stopped her pacing and turned, suddenly turning her bright yellow eyes to look at Boscha. They just stared at each other a moment, before Boscha let her head drop and her eyes find the ground. She thrust her hands in the pockets of her coat. "Hey Amity."

"Boscha." Amity's tone was...it was hard to describe. Something about it made Boscha's chest prickle. It was unsure and guarded. But maybe it wasn't the tone that was hitting Boscha, it was hearing Amity say her name again. Amity saying anything to her again. 

"So, you wanted to talk?" 

"Yeah." Amity's words sounded more confident. "I'd like you to apologize." Amity said plainly.

"What for? I apologized to Luz, and Skara--"

"You broke my leg, Boscha! And refused to listen to me when I told you I was done being your friend!"

"Oh." Boscha looked away. "I kinda forgot about the leg thing..." Amity shot her a glare. "It's been a weird and hard last few months, okay!" She took a deep breath. "I'm sorry Amity. I'm sorry I hurt your friends and your girlfriend. I'm sorry I've been a miserable, piece of shit for nearly a decade." Boscha twisted her hands in her packets, bunching the fabric around her waist. "I'm sorry for everything..."

Amity gave her an appraising look, seemingly trying to see if Boscha's apology was genuine. "Okay. " Amity looked away. "I'm sorry too. I never really tried to be your friend. Not really. Not even at the beginning. I knew you were mean, and cruel but I still could have I don't know...tried and be myself more? I always assumed you'd just hate me, and I kind of hated myself too. That whole time we were forced together I kept thinking wishing I were someplace else....with someone else."

It felt like Boscha was being pierced with a knife. Her chest ached. "Bu--but you had fun sometimes right? When we hung out? Right? I must of made you happy at least once or twice over the last seven years, right?"

Amity just looked at her, her eyes wetting. Then she bit her lip, shook her head and then turned away. 

Tears welled up in Boscha's eyes, as she hissed air through her teeth. "...so none of it was real?" She turned to look at Amity. "Absolutely none of it? I--I thought....maybe sometimes we had a connection...But--gods I'm so stupid."

Amity looked at Boscha, her cheeks stained with tears. "...no...I'm sorry Boscha...I think you were the only one who felt that..."

The three eyed witch nodded in understanding, as she was now properly crying. She sniffed, keeping back audible sobs. "I--um-- I should leave..." She turned and started rushing down the stairs. 

"Boscha wait!" Luz called after her, but Boscha was sprinting full speed toward Hexside. 

* * * * *

Once again, like so many times in the last three months, Boscha finds herself sobbing in the girls' room at school. She had barely made it inside the door before collapsing into the far corner and letting her body rip itself apart with tears. She wrapped her self up in her arms and shook from the raw anger and sadness escaping her. Knowing no one would be in this place for at least half an hour she let herself wail and scream as she cried. 

Then suddenly, Willow is standing in front of her. Because of her tear soaked vision she wasn't sure for a moment if she was really there or if she was seeing things. But then she spoke. 

"Boscha?"

Boscha let out another wail and crumbled into herself. She pulled her knees to her chest and slid down, so her face was pressed against the floor. She wanted desperately to escape. To become so small no one could see her. She wanted to not exist. 

Willow crouched beside her and placed a hand on her shoulder. Her big worried eyes framed by her glasses broke through Boscha's wet and blurred vision. 

"Boscha what's wrong?" Willow asked softly. 

Boscha sniffed and covered her face with her hands. "I--I talked with Amity..." She mumbled through the tightness in her throat. "I--I'm so stupid, Willow." She slapped her hands against the side of her head. "I'm so stupid!"

Willow grabbed Boscha's wrists. "Hey! Stop that. Boscha, don't hit yourself." She pulled Boscha's hands away to look her in the face. "Please don't hit yourself?" 

The former gudgby captain stared at her a moment, her tears crawling down her cheeks. She slowly nodded. "Okay." She let Willow guide her arms back to her side. She turned her eyes to the ground. "What are you doing here, Willow?"

"Well I was going to go pee..." Willow said, a slight smile on her lips. 

Boscha couldn't help but let out a small tired chuckle. "Don't let me keep you." She said as she slowly moved to sit up against the wall. She looked up at Willow's worried, but pleasant smile, and wiped away some of her tears. 

"How about I take care of business, then we can head out the greenhouse and talk? No one's really ever in there until after second period."

Boscha thought for a moment. 'What's the worst that happens? She's seen you at your worst, whose she going to tell? Luz? Luz already knows everything.' Boscha slowly stood and wiped herself off. "Sure....but why are you offering, Willow?"

Willow shrugged. "I know a thing or two about Amity drama." She smiled a little wider. "Plus I know it must be awkward to talk about that stuff with Luz." 

She nodded. "She's a good friend, but she's also Amity's girlfriend so...I dunno..."

"I understand." 

Boscha walked toward the sink. "I'm--I'm gonna try and clean up my stupid make up." Willow nodded and then disappeared into a stall. Boscha went to work at wiping way the remnants of her most recent crying fit. 

* * * * * *

The greenhouse was comfortable compared to the harsh cold outside, or even the constant draftiness of Hexside's classroom buildings proper. It didn't have the gentle warmth of the Owl House, but she understood how this could be Willow's sanctuary. Willow for her part, was occupying herself with checking up on the various plants near the entrance as Boscha sat at one of the stools by a long work bench. She put her backpack down next to a pile of bags of potting soil. 

"So what happened exactly?" Willow asked, her attention on some shrub with pointy spines. "Luz said something about you and Amity deciding to meet....I assume it went badly?"

Boscha looked at her hands as she rubbed them together. "I mean....not bad I guess...I don't know. I just heard things I realized I was really afraid to hear."

"What was that?" Willow now turned her attention to the soil of the plant and made a few marks in a clipboard hanging by the door. Somehow it was nice to have these sort of talks without having to look directly into the other person's pitying eyes. Boscha appreciated it. 

"...That we never were really friends. That I--I was a space occupier. I could have been anyone her parents deemed 'acceptable'. Which....ugh...okay. If you tell anyone about this--You can't...I've already caught enough grief about it and I'm not sure if I want it to be a known thing yet."

Willow looked up to her. "Of course. Nothing leaves this greenhouse." She said firmly and sincerely. 

Boscha let out a long jagged breath. "I'm gay." Willow didn't look surprised per se, just a bit like she wasn't prepared for Boscha to state it so plainly. Boscha then looked away from Willow and back at her hands. "And I've realized I had feelings for Amity for a long time. I didn't even really know it until she was gone but...I guess that's how it goes...And now...it turns out not only did she not feel the same way, turns out she struggled to even tolerate me."

Boscha put her head in her hands and sucked in air between her fingers. "And I feel so stupid. I feel like I was lying to myself. I mean what did I expect? I mean...I'm Boscha...I'm miserable. What girl would--who..." Her chest began to heave, then felt Willow's hand on her shoulder.

"Boscha. Look at me. " Boscha turned her eyes up to meet Willow's. "Things change. Amity's changed. You've changed. Just because what you hoped to be there wasn't doesn't mean it's hopeless. Because things change. You could meet some cute and wonderful girl someday and you both could fall head over heels for each other! Who knows! It's just a matter of trying to accept change."

Boscha rubbed her arm. "But...My dad...."

"One step at a time. You can come out when you feel safe. In the mean time just keep working on being your best Boscha! The Amity stuff is going to hurt for a while...believe me...but I believe good things will happen if you try to bring goodness into this world." Willow manifested a sunflower in her hand and gave it to Boscha.

A small smile came to Boscha's lips, as she twirled the stem of the flower between her fingers. "Thank you, Willow..."

"Of course." Willow gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze. "If you want I can whip us up some tea. I have a little kettle and stuff here. I mean who needs first period right?"

Boscha chuckled. "Yeah...Yeah. I'd like that." 

Willow leaned away from Boscha and started toward the back of the greenhouse. "Two ginseng teas coming right up!" 

Boscha smiled to herself took a deep breath, soaking in the calming green around her.


	10. Chapter 10

Boscha wasn't sure if Luz was going to be waiting for her after school. She wasn't even sure if she wanted her to be. She certainly felt better after her morning with Willow, but the talk with Amity was still raw. Luz said was there as an 'impartial observer/emotional support'....but let's be honest she's not impartial. She'd ultimately take Amity's side if anything came up. If the talk went way worse. If anyone but Boscha had been hurt. 

She wasn't sure how'd she feel seeing Luz, but relief was not what she expected. She turned and noticed Boscha and gave a bouncy wave, same as usual. Boscha gave a slight smile and joined Luz next to the front steps. 

"Hey Luz." Boscha said, slightly awkwardly. These meet ups were a regular thing but right now it felt brand new again. The air between them was in flux. Boscha didn't want to lose Luz just because she reminds her of the girl she used to care about. That wasn't fair to Luz. She knew that. But the bitter and angry part of Boscha always was strong. Struggling with it is what has been so hard the last few months. 

"Hi Boscha!" Luz pulled her into a tight hug. Boscha stiffened then slid her arms around Luz. "I didn't get a chance to give you a hug after your guys' talk...so I'm making sure to give it to you now." Luz nearly whispered. And for some reason that made Boscha start to just sob into Luz's chest. The human just put her chin on Boscha's head and held her tight. 

"You okay, Bosch?" Luz asked softly, as Boscha's crying stopped and they were back to just sharing a regular hug. 

"Yeah...It was a hard morning and--I was afraid after I tried to defend myself like that to Amity and like--ran off--you'd never want to see me again. Which I wouldn't blame you. She's your girlfriend. She's always going to be more important than me."

Luz hummed. "I wouldn't say MORE important. I'd say important for different reasons...I don't know. I don't like to think about having to chose my friend or my girlfriend. I would hope Amity wouldn't put me in that position....I dunno. " Luz pulled back but kept her arms on Boscha's shoulders. "I would never stop being your friend just because you expressed how you really felt."

Boscha smiled, and wiped her tears with the sleeve of her coat. "Really?"

"Of course." Luz smiled widely. "Now if you started throwing trash on people again then we'd have to talk..."

Boscha cringed at the reminder of her past actions. "Okay." She then thought for a moment. "I need to like make a list of things to tell Willow I'm sorry for....It's going to be such a long list..." 

Luz gave Boscha's shoulders a gentle squeeze. "One thing at a time remember? You said you spoke to her this morning. Did you apologize?"

"Maybe? I don't know...I was sort of having a bit of a breakdown." She said as she and Luz started to head down the steps. "It's all a blur...."

Luz gave a nod and then turned her head away in thought. "I think you might need to have a talk about that stuff with her, Bosch."

Boscha groaned. "I know. I've been putting it off. Or Ignoring it. I thought Amity would be the big thing to confront but, of course it's Willow. It's always Willow..."

The human gave Boscha an excited look. "Backstory?!" 

Boscha couldn't help but let out a giggle. "Not much of one. Back when Amity and Willow were friends I'd see them around. I knew Amity because our parents knew each other and I'd see her at like 'social events' or whatever. We were kids so I didn't really know what they were or why my parents had me come to such a boring thing. But I remember seeing Amity." A bitter smile came to Boscha's lips. "She looked so sad and lonely. She hid behind her siblings and never looked me in the eye. But then when I'd see her in the market running around with Willow she looked so happy. So free. After everything I had hoped....I could make her feel that way...turns out I never was capable of it."

Luz gave Boscha a light bump with her shoulder. "It may not have ended up being that way with Amity, but I like hanging out with you plenty!" 

Boscha smiled. "Thanks Luz." She looked at the ground as she walked. "I've been working on a song...my first one...when we get to my place would you want to hear it?"

"Of course!" Luz hopped on her feet a little. "I get the world premiere of a Boscha original! I am so honored!" 

"Relax dork. It's just a little thing I was putting together. It's no big deal."

"Whatever you say, maestro." Luz grinned and did a little spin while they walked. "I am so excited!" 

Boscha just watched her human friend joyously walk in front of her all the way home. 

* * * * *

A a day or two later Boscha was knocking on the door to the green house. The bitter chill had broke and it was now more pleasant, if still cold. Steam leaked from the pair of cups in the tray she was carrying. After a slight shuffle inside the door opened, and Willow stood there looking slightly puzzled. 

"Hey Willow...um...I wanted to thank you for the other day...and um--I brought more tea! And some ghoulbeery tarts. There's a bakery near my house that has good tarts..."

Willow gave a slight smile and stepped out of the way to let Boscha in. "Thank you, that's very sweet."

"Um--the tea is ginseng....It's the only tea I know the name of..." Boscha said, putting down the tray and bag of tarts. 

Willow gave a small laugh. "I like ginseng. Thank you." She took a cup and started sip while Boscha did the same. "So, what brings you around this part of campus?"

Boscha set her cup down on a work bench and rubbed her arm. "Uh--Well. I wanted to say I'm sorry. I've done and said some awful things to you. I was using you as a punching bag and you didn't deserve it. I've been a very bad person for a long time, and--it's been hard to realize how bad....I'm so so so sorry Willow."

Willow took a deep sip of her tea and then took a seat on a stool. "Thank you. I don't forgive you...I may never. You understand that, right?" Willow looked up at her with a look that made Boscha's heart hurt. She wasn't certain why.

"Ye-yeah...I understand that. I didn't apologize to be instantly forgiven....I learned there's no easy way for this stuff. I just know I had to apologize otherwise I feel like you wouldn't know I knew how awful I treated you---or that I thought it didn't matter. After all you did for me the other day...I just realized how much I had to be sorry for."

"Hmm." Willow gave a little nod and turned her attention back to her tea. "You know Luz told me what those girls did to you--"

Boscha's eyes widened. "She did?"

"Mmm-Hm. Also that apparently Luz froze them to toilet for like three hours..." She gave Boscha another look. "If they, or any other homophobic pricks, pick on you again send them my way. I know how to summon all the thorniest plants." She gave a wide smile. 

Boscha laughed quietly. "I will. Thanks, Willow." 

"Of course! Now let me get at these tarts!" Willow started opening the bag sitting on the counter.

Boscha smiled and drank more of her tea. "You know--I might not like tea..." Willow laughed and took a bite of a tart. "I'm just realizing this." 

Boscha laughed and took another drink anyway.


	11. Chapter 11

Boscha plopped her head on the table, which shook Luz out of her very focused attempt at completing her history of the Isles worksheet. Boscha let out a loud groan. Luz chuckled a little. "Somethin' wrong, Bosch?"

The three eyed witch sighed and turned her head so she could look up at Luz. "...I don't know...You ever feel overwhelmed by gay feelings?" Luz quirked her eyebrow. "Never mind it's stupid..."

"Hey! It's not stupid! What do you mean?"

"I don't know...I'll just be like...just doing nothing and I'll think about like being near a cute girl and I get all flustered! I'm not even thinking of a specific girl, really....I'm just like....I imagine being able to just--being able to just be with someone and happy...it just makes me feel..I don't know...Lonely....but in a gay way?"

Luz smiled, but her eyes looked sad as she nodded. "I understand now." Her smile grew a little wider, and her expression grew a little smug. "Boscha I think what you're experiencing is Gay Yearning."

Boscha shot up right. "Oh my god....How did I become a cliche??" She grumbled and put her head in her hands. 

"To be fair you kinda were a cliche when you were Mean Boscha." Luz snarked. 

Boscha lifted her head from her hands and tried to glare at Luz, but a smile came to her lips before too long. "Well look who has me pegged, ms. manic human dream girl."

Luz gasped and burst out laughing. "Oh my god!" The human clearly fit that criteria for Amity, Boscha was certain. It still hurt to think about Amity, even a few weeks after their talk, the wound felt raw. It was healing, the pain was fading, but every so often a certain smell or phrase or even color will drag Boscha back into a memory she'd rather forget. To a time when she had herself fooled. 

Luz's face became somewhat serious suddenly, as she looked at the hall as if seeing anyone was going to walk in, even though no one ever has while they were hanging out. "Speaking of gay yearning...Have you thought about how you'll handle your dad if he finds out?" 

Boscha shook her head. "Not really...I'm not even sure what he'd do...he can be intense....My mom said she'd support me, but I don't know. She's been sweet, but also she's here only so much...My dad is coming home for the weekend....Do you think I should tell him? Draw a line now? I am so tired of getting scroll messages about which of his co-worker's sons he wants to marry me off to."

"Do you feel safe telling him? I could be here when you tell him, so you're not alone." 

Boscha gave Luz a soft, sad smile. "I'd appreciate that...though be prepared, he may be a bit weird about the whole...human thing." 

Luz shrugged. "Everybody is. I'm used to it. The important thing is I'll be there whenever you need me to." Luz put her hand on the table, palm up. 

Boscha put her hand on hers and smiled. "Thank you, Luz."

"Anytime, mi amiga." 

* * * * *

Boscha sat on her front step and tried desperately to keep herself from shaking to pieces. Her father had arrived home from coven business late the night before and Boscha quickly sent a message to Luz asking her to meet her the next morning. Luz instantly agreed, and Boscha quietly thanked whatever gods gave her a friend like Luz Noceda. Without her, without someone like her on her side, she knows she'd ignore coming out until she was basically forced to. And by then, knowing her father, he would already be in the process of forcing some miserable rich boy on her. 

Luz came bounding around the corner and Boscha got to her feet. She gave the human a small wave. As soon as Luz reached Boscha she gave her a big hug. The three eyed witch found herself melting into the embrace. She had no idea how much tension she was actually holding in until she felt Luz hold her, and it all came flooding out. "I'm so scared..." She mumbled against Luz's chest. 

The human gently ran little circles along Boscha's back. "It'll be okay. I'm here. I'll beat his ass if I have to." Luz said, with a mischievous smirk. Boscha couldn't help but laugh as she broke away from the hug. 

"Hopefully it won't come to that. But thank you, Luz." Luz smiled wider and gave a nod. "Okay..." Boscha let out a long breath. "Let's do this. He's in his study."

The door to Boscha's father's study was open. Her father was sternly looking over some paperwork and writing something down with a quill. Boscha sucked in a gulp of air and gave the door frame three quiet knocks. 

"Yes Boscha?" Her father's booming voice came out, but his eyes didn't look up from his work. 

"Um...father...there was something I wanted to talk to you about--"

"Couldn't your mother handle it? I'm busy. I've only got so much time to complete this work before I'm needed back at the coven."

"I--I understand....but mother's not even here...." Boscha's father gave a dismissive grunt. "...and I already told her...."

Her father glanced up, his three eyes peered at her over his eyebrows. "Then why are you bothering me?"

Boscha felt her chest tighten. Then Luz grabbed her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Um...It's something I wanted to tell you...about myself...."

"I already know you quit Grudgby, Boscha. I don't need to be reminded of your sudden abandoning of one of the few good things you were actually decent at. I suppose you are here to excuse your laziness? Or explain why you suddenly dropped from the top three percentile of your track down to the top five?"

Boscha felt tears well up in her eyes. "..Um...I--I..."

"Will you just listen to her!" Luz stepped into the doorway proper, Boscha's father finally noticing the human. 

"Who are you?" Boscha's father asked coldly.

"I'm Luz! And I'm a friend of your daughter's. She has been trying to tell you something very important to her, and the least you can do is listen!"

He huffed. "You're her friend? The human girl is your friend, Boscha?" 

Boscha dropped her eyes to the ground. "Yes father. She's the best friend I've ever had..."

He let out another grunt. "And what happened to the friends I picked out for you?" 

Boscha slouched, and now was full on crying. "The--they stopped associating with me father..."

"I see...And why is that? Did they finally see you for the miserable creature you are?"

"I--I" Boscha sobbed. 

"Enough. Improve your grades, and talk to your coach about getting back on the grudgby team...at least that way you can bring something to my reputation, instead of being a difficult little monster."

"Ye--yes father..." Boscha said softly.

Luz's hand squeezed Boscha's hand tightly and then let it go as the human stood in front of Boscha. "Excuse me. But how dare you?" Luz's voice shook with barely restrained anger. "What sort of father talks that way to their daughter?! No...what sort of person talks to another person like that?! What is wrong with you?! This girl has been through hell, and she comes here trying to share something personal with her father and instead is treated like shit! Well...fuck that!" Luz's chest heaved. 

Boscha's father let a stream of breath blow through his nose as he suddenly stood, his hands slamming onto his desk. "Well...It must be very important for a human to be berating me in my own home about it!" He turns his furious gaze to Boscha, who was still hidden behind Luz. "Well...out with it child. Tell me this deep dark personal thing so I can throw you and this miserable thing out! " 

"I-I um...." Boscha tried to speak over her quiet sobs. 

"OUT WITH IT!" Boscha's father bellowed. 

"I'm gay father! I only like girls...I refuse to marry a man."

Boscha's father's face contorted into disgust a moment before shifting back into a cold neutral, as he sat back down. He let out a long breath. "Figures." He turned his eyes back to his papers. "What a miserable disappointment you turned out to be. A wasted investment...I will not support a dyke. "

Boscha felt her knees buckling. "...Father..." Luz wrapped her arms around her, keeping her from collapsing. 

"You have an hour to gather your things, then I want you out of the house. You are disowned. Do not bother trying to come back. "

"Father....Please..."

"That is final, Boscha. This is no longer your home. One hour. Goodbye." He twirled his finger and a gust of wind pushed the girls out of the doorway and the study door snapped shut. Boscha clung to Luz and sobbed. 

Luz wrapped her arms around Boscha as she slowly started to crumble to the ground, bringing Luz with her. Boscha quietly cried against Luz for what felt like an eternity. As the tears slowed Luz spoke. "Come on, Bosh...we gotta go to your room and grab what you can, okay?"

Boscha looked up at the human, wiped away some tears and nodded. 

Luz stood, and held a hand out to help Boscha up, which she took. Slowly they made it upstairs to Boscha's room. Luz packed Boscha's backpack up with all her school supplies while Boscha threw piles of clothes into a small suit case. She then grabbed a duffel back and threw in her toiletries and make up. She grabbed her mental health reminders off the wall and placed them gently on top. She grabbed her pillow and comforter and her electric piano and noticed they were about out of time. 

They made their way out of her room, and down the stairs. Boscha couldn't help but look in the kitchen one last time, noticing the small little knickknacks she was probably never going to see again. Boscha looked back at the sight that had greeted her everyday after school, her home, her life, one last time and then closed the front door.

Luz carried her backpack and duffel bag for her on the walk to the Owl House. Boscha clutched her suitcase in one hand, and her piano in the other, her whole self feeling numb. 

Boscha looked up at the sun and wished she could disappear into a ball of fire.


	12. Chapter 12

Boscha sat in the windowsill of Luz's room at the Owl House. The day's event still washing over her, she looked at the full moon and started to cry again. She furiously rubbed at her eyes with the palms of her hand and looked at Luz sleeping in her bed. Watching her friend's slowly rising and falling chest calmed her, if only a little bit. 

She let out a deep breath and grabbed her piano from where it was leaning against the wall and made her way downstairs. She wandered out the back door (she desperately wanted to avoid the weird talking door owl thing) and down to where the Owl Lady had set up lawn furniture. She sat down and laid her piano in her lap and stared out at the stars. 

Absentmindedly, Boscha ran her fingers along the keys, stringing together pleasant enough chords for a few minutes before hearing the backdoor to the Owl House open and close softly. She kept playing as she heard Eda slowly approach. 

"Kid? What ya doin' out here? It's late." She asked, worry barely hidden under a tried surliness. 

"Sorry...I couldn't sleep. When I can't sleep lately I've been playing on this thing....." Eda sat down next to her. "I keep thinking about how easy it was for him to do that..."

The older witch let out a long sigh. "Yeah he sounds like a real piece of shit." Eda stated bitterly as she sat down next to Boscha. 

"I suddenly have nothing! Because I was stupid enough to think he might accept me! Or--if it wasn't acceptance even denial would have been better! Gods! I'm so stupid! I knew I should have kept my stupid feelings to myself!" Boscha slammed her hands down on her lap, making her little electric piano blurt out a loud discordant squawk of notes. 

"Keep them to yourself? Okay. Then what? You just bottle them up until you blow up on someone or fall apart completely? Kid. That's not a healthy thing. It's destroys you, hiding yourself like that."

"...But if--if I pretended....I--He would be proud of me. I'd be his heir...Bringing respect to the family name..." 

"By what? Marrying someone you probably despise and aren't attracted to? What respectable family forces that on their kid? No family is worth that shit, kid. You deserve happiness." Eda stated simply. 

Boscha's eyes welled with tears. "...thank you..." She took a deep breath. and looked back at the stars. "I'm not sure what I'm going to do now..."

"Well I'm here. Luz is here. The Owl House is here. You're welcome to stay with us as long as you'd like. Just like--You know clean up after yourself and try not eat anything with my name on it." Eda gave her a little smirk.

Boscha pulled her hands from her lap to wipe her tears. "Thanks, Eda."

"No problem." Eda stood up, her joints audibly popping. "And I know a thing or two about being disowned by people who you thought were your family over something you can't control. I did alright. I think you'll do even better, kid. If you keep working at it." Eda started heading toward the house. "Come on, come inside, it's too dangerous to be noodlin' on that thing in the dark, like that."

Boscha took one more look at the stars, and stood. "Okay." She followed Eda back inside to hopefully fall asleep. She really doubted she would. 

* * * * *

Boscha awoke the next morning to a message on her scroll from her mother. Well several messages. Apparently she was as in as much shock about Boscha being disowned as she was. Boscha crawled out of the bundle of blankets and comforters on the floor next to Luz's bed and wandered outside, while her friend slept. The sun was barely just coming up and the Owl House was still quiet. She called her mom on her scroll. 

_"Hello!? Boscha?!"_ Her mother sounded panicked and scared. 

"Hey mom. "

_"Oh thank goodness! Are you okay?! Did he hurt you? Where are you?"_

"Yeah I'm fine. I'm with a friend....um...Am I officially?..." Boscha sniffed, trying to hold back tears. 

Boscha could hear her mother take a stabilizing breath. _"You are. He performed the ceremony last night. I didn't find out until very early this morning when I saw he him leaving and he just mentioned it off hand....There's nothing I can do. His word is law when it comes to the family line....I am so sorry baby. I really am. I can't do anything about him....He....he wants me to pretend like you never existed."_

Boscha gave a dismissive snort. "Him and me both...." She looked up at the red and pink sunrise and felt a twist in her stomach. "Did he tell you why he disowned me?..."

_"Yes! And it's nonsense! Just because you're gay doesn't make you any less MY daughter, that's for damned sure! I don't care what he or ceremony has to say!"_ She could hear her mother sitting down on the squeaky chair in the living room. It made Boscha's chest ache. _"Listen um...don't worry about your healer and potion costs...I was already paying for those secretly and I won't stop. I can give you a ride to your appointments if you want? I'd still want to see you when I can. You'll always be my daughter, Boscha."_

As the sky grew brighter, Boscha felt number. "Okay...what about school?"

Boscha's mother let out a sigh. _"I think we'll have to figure something out. Once he disowned you, your enrollment there stopped. Um...I might be able to talk to Principal Bump but...if he finds out I--"_ Her mother's voice hitched. _"We'll figure out something. I promise you, Boscha. I won't abandon you."_

"Hmm." Is all Boscha could muster, as she felt her cheeks growing wet with tears she just now realized were flowing. "I'm going to go now, mom..."

_"Oh--okay dear....Call me later today, so we can meet up okay? I want to see you. Know you're safe."_

"Right. Yeah. Okay. I will. Bye mom." 

_"Goodbye Boscha. I love you, baby girl."_

Boscha ended the call and de-summoned her scroll. She dropped unceremoniously to the ground and curled up. She wailed and screamed and sobbed as the sun climbed up over the horizon.


	13. Chapter 13

Boscha spent the next few days just curled up in Luz's room not doing much of anything. Eda would come in and makes sure she ate, and get her to occasionally come down stairs and chat with her and king a little. When Luz came home from school her mood would improve slightly, if only because Luz seemed to just be able to do that without trying. She didn't really even need to do much of anything, just be there. It was remarkable.

Luz was doing some abomination history homework when Boscha broke the comfortable silence between them. "...Did I make a mistake? Should I have not told him?"

Luz looked up from her papers and turned toward Boscha. She seemed to run some words around in her head before she spoke. "...I don't know. I guess it depends on how much pretending you're someone else hurts you. I know it would suck if I had to hide my liking girls and boys both. It's part of me. But I never had to deal with someone like your father..."

Boscha sighed. "Yeah...He was hardly around the last few years...I guess I forgot how straight up cruel he can be..."

"Has he...?"

She turned her three eyes to her lap. "...A few times. Slaps to the face and twisting my arms...nothing drastic. Regardless that was years ago..."

Luz crawled off her bed and sat next to Boscha. She opened her arms and Boscha slid into her embrace. "It still happened and it was wrong. Boscha...your dad sucks really bad." Boscha let out a little chuckle that made their embrace wobble. 

"Guess he's not technically my dad anymore. I am no longer his "responsibility". Ugh. I'm not sure what I'll do. I can't go back to hexside."

"Well I'm sure Eda and me can talk to Bump for you! He'll understand! He's a pretty reasonable guy. Plus, Eda would totally be willing to be your guardian of record. She's already my guardian." Luz broke her embrace but held Boscha's shoulders. “Let us try and help you, Bosch."

"You've already helped me so much...I want to believe that things will work out...but there's this negative thought in my head that I deserve all of this. The last few months....all of this is just...I don't know...Ugh. I know I shouldn't think that way, but it's hard not to when bad things just keep happening, you know?"

The human nods. "I know." 

Boscha took a deep breath. "I can't believe I was naive enough to think my dad could love me..."

"Every kid wants their parents to love them. When they don't it's the parent's fault, not the kid's. It's his problem that he's a bigoted piece of trash." 

Boscha looked down at her lap, feeling Luz gently run her hands up and down her upper arms in a soft comforting sort of way. "...has anyone said anything about me?...do people know about--about everything?"

Luz sighed. "They know you've been disowned. I don't think anyone knows why for sure, but there are rumors. Some kind of accurate....." Boscha looked up at Luz. "But my favorite is that you ran away to train in secret with an elite assassin squad for the Emperor. Not gonna lie, if I disappear from school, I want someone to give me that dope of a mysterious backstory."

The three eyed witch softly chuckled. "Wow. How disappointed would they be if they found out I was just moping alone in your room and eating raw choke-let chip cookie dough. "

"Hey. That sounds better to me to be honest. I doubt the emperor tolerates his assassins eating a cookie of any kind. He seems like he hates fun."

Boscha snorted. "Man, all this casual treasonous talk is gonna take some getting used to." 

Luz pulled her into another hug. "I'm happy to have you here with us, Boscha. Me and Eda...we have your back."

Boscha melted into the embrace. "Thank you Luz..."

* * * * * 

After a few days, and lots of paperwork, which Eda complained about nonstop, Boscha was re-enrolled at Hexside. Her first day back Eda gave her and Luz a ride on her staff. The nerves were twisting in her gut and all she could do was grip onto Luz and hope the human didn't realize how scared she really was. Knowing Luz, she probably knew.

As the familiar sight of Hexside came into view, Boscha's stomach somehow twisted into an even tighter knot. She felt like she was going to throw up. She clutched onto Luz even more. She felt the girl give her hands a gentle pat, the most reassurance she could manage on a staff going incredibly fast, hundreds of feet in the air. 

They gently landed outside the Hexside front entrance and Luz and Boscha carefully dismounted. "Have a nice day you two!" Eda said, a fanged smile on her face. She turned to Boscha with a soft warmth in her eyes. "You got this, kid." 

"Thanks, Eda." Boscha looked down at the ground, unsure of what to do with someone like Eda treating her with so much kindness. Most adults treated her with fear, or barely restrained contempt....Except during Grudgby season...but that was gone now.

"Willow! Gus!" Luz shouted, hopping up and down, then rushing forward to hug her friends. Boscha turned away. She couldn't watch Luz be with other friends right now. It would only make her feel more weird and alone. She started to head off toward the steps into school when a voice stopped her.

"Boscha! Wait." She turned around to see Willow looking up at her. Those big green eyes swirled with an emotion Boscha couldn't decipher. Her expression was unreadable. Then Willow did something incredibly unexpected.

She pulled Boscha into a tight embrace and held her close. Boscha slowly put her arms around Willow and closed her eyes. "You're always welcome in the greenhouse when you feel upset, or overwhelmed, or just want to talk, okay?" Willow nearly whispered into her ear.

Boscha felt tears welling up as she nodded. "Okay...thank you Willow."

Suddenly, Boscha felt a soft impact against her back and quickly realized Luz had joined the hug with her usual enthusiasm. Boscha couldn't help but laugh, and melt into the warm comfort of their arms.


	14. Chapter 14

After the last few months of constant upheaval Boscha was sort of used to people staring and whispering about her. Of course, now it was a lot more intense than even after she came back from the facility. Some people tried to be discreet about it, but most people were openly gawking at her. It made her feel like a freak. 

Her conversation with Principal Bump was brief. He simply told her not to worry about missing work from the time she missed, but instead just focus on the right now. "One moment at a time. One day at a time." She repeated as she slipped into her first class about ten minutes late.

The whole classroom, of course turned to look at her. She wanted to shrink into nothing. 'Why did I ever bother leaving Luz's floor?' she thought as she plopped down into a chair in the back corner of her Healing Elixirs class. 

* * * * *

During lunch, Boscha found her usual bench. Luz had said she could sit with her and her friends, but the idea of being in a crowed cafeteria made her skin crawl. She sucked in the cool air and tried to eat as much of what Eda had packed for her as she could stomach. 

"Hi, Boscha." Boscha looked up to see Willow clutching her lunch bag and looking down at her with a small smile. "Mind if I join you?"

Boscha looked at the empty side of the bench and then back up at the plant track witch. "Sure." 

Willow plopped down and started to unpack her lunch, pulling out a sandwich. They each chewed in silence for a few minutes. Willow opened a box of appleblood, piercing the plastic straw into the top. "I like girls, too, you know."

Boscha nearly choked on her bite of eye-plant parm. She looked at Willow nonchalantly sip on her box of juice. "Ye-yeah?...why are you telling me?"

Willow shrugged. "I figured you might be feeling like you shouldn't have said anything to him...No one has told me what happened but, I put two and two together. Unless I'm way off base."

The three-eyed witch shook her head. "No...I tried to tell him and that I wouldn't marry a man....and within the day I was disowned..."

Willow let out a little grunt of disgust. "Your dad is trash." She took another sip of her appleblood. "Anyway...I wanted to tell you I liked girls, because maybe you needed to hear that it's not wrong to feel that way. And it's not wrong to want to be accepted. Don't blame yourself or who you're attracted to for the shitty actions of shitty people, okay?"

Boscha nodded. "Okay..." She looked down at the fork in her hand, and her food sitting in her lap and sighed. "...if it weren't for Luz I would be homeless...I've been thinking a lot about that since it all happened. I owe her so much, and I'm so scared I'll backslide, become an asshole again and drive her away...I'm scared to be alone again..."

Willow put a hand on top of Boscha's holding her fork and gently patted it. "I'll let you know if you're being an asshole, deal?" Her tone was so sweet and sincere, Boscha couldn't help but laugh. 

"Deal." 

"Good!" Willow gave her hand another pat before picking her sandwich back up and taking a bite. "Also you have an open invitation for lunch, so if you don't want to eat alone and the cafeteria is too much, let me know and we can eat here or whatever...." 

"Thank you, Willow." Boscha smiled. 

Willow smiled back in return. "Of course. That's what friends are for, right?" 

Boscha's smile got wider and she nodded, a bit to excitedly. "Right!" 

The plant track witch giggled, and for some reason, in that moment, that sound became Boscha's new favorite sound in the whole world.


	15. Chapter 15

Boscha was leaned against a pillar outside of Hexside waiting for Luz to meet her so they can walk back to the Owl House, when Amity came up to her. Boscha looked at her out of the corner of her eye third eye. 

"Hey." Amity said, staring down at her feet.

"Hey." Boscha answered, flatly. 

"I heard about what your father did....I'm sorry."

Boscha let out a long deep breath and then shrugged. " I'm not. At least I don't think I am. He was a prick and that hasn't felt like a family in a long time."

Amity leaned back against the same pillar as Boscha. "I'm sorry I wasn't able to be the person you thought I was...or who you needed me to be.."

The three eyed witch took a sharp breath. "Yeah...it sucks that I had the wrong idea about what we were but, I don't know...I don't think I can blame that on you. We both weren't who we wanted to be and I was in denial I think..."

Amity turned to look at her for the first time in the whole conversation. "Wow. When did you get so introspective, Boscha?" She said, with a small smile. 

Boscha let out a snort of laughter. "Three months of therapy, and a lot of journaling....Having people around who actually bother to treat me like a real person helps..."

Amity nods. "I know I probably bring up a lot of bad memories, but I want you to know I want you to feel welcome to come to me if you need anything. I know Luz is a very kind and dedicated soul, but even she can spread herself thin. If you need support, don't hesitate to reach out, okay?"

"I appreciate that, Amity."

With that Amity just gave a curt nod and made her way down the stairs and out of hexside. Almost as soon as Amity was gone, Luz walked up beside her. 

"Were you waiting in the shadows like a creep, waiting for Amity and me to finish talking?"

Luz fidgeted with her fingers and rocked on the balls of her feet. "Nooooo...." Boscha turned to her, unimpressed with her halfhearted attempt to lie. "Fine! Yes. But only because I didn't want to make you wait, and if I went off and killed time waiting, I was afraid I'd get sidetracked." She admitted. 

Boscha chuckled. "I didn't know you had that level of self awareness, Luz." She joked as they climbed down the stairs together. 

Luz gasped in mock offense. "I have plenty of self awareness, I'll have you know. " She grinned. "Like right now I feel extra distract-able...."

"Oh I swear to titan, if we end up having to fight a giant bug on our walk home..."

"No promises!" Luz started skip and then turned around to walk backwards, so she can look at Boscha. "Wait! Are there giant bugs here?!"

Boscha just smirked and shrugged. "I dunno...but if there are I'm sure you'll find them."  
Luz laughed and turned to walk forward. "Probably." 

* * * * *

The next Saturday morning Boscha was sitting out in front of the Owl House, as the sun was slowly rising. She had her electric piano in her lap as she sat in a law chair and listened to the forest come to life under the sounds of her plucking at the keys. 

As she played she heard the front door of the Owl House gently open and close, and some one come up beside her. "Hey Boscha! What are you doing up so early?"

Boscha turned her head to look at Luz, her fingers still playing the chords of a song she'd been practicing. "I'm out here this early a lot, actually. I don't sleep very well most nights, so I come out here and practice my piano...it's peaceful."

"Hmm. I bet it is!" Boscha noticed Luz was in workout gear, while she moved around Boscha and started stretching her legs. 

Boscha smiled as she watched her clearly still sleepy, but excited, friend sloppily stretch out her hamstrings. "What are you up so early for?"

"Oh! Willow and I are gonna go for a run! We wanted to build up our endurance before the tryouts for the spring grudgby league!" Luz taps a finger to her chin with the hand not pulling her leg back. "You know it's weird, with Lilith and Eda and now you living here, everyone seems to have played a lot of grudgby." 

Boscha snorts. "That's not that surprising considering all of us are either gay or bi...."

Luz lets go of her leg and turns to Boscha. "Isn't that a stereotype?"

Boscha shrugged. "Hey, can't argue with the evidence."

Luz then stepped closer to Boscha. "Wait...how do you know Lilith is gay? I know Eda has mentioned having girlfriends before..."

The three eyed witch shrugged. "I had to go to a lot of boring high society parties as a kid and Lilith would usually come alone but when I was younger I used to see her bring women as dates. Thinking about it now I vaguely remember my dad grumbling about it on the staff ride home..."

Suddenly Willow came jogging down the path. She waved at them both. "Hey guys!" She gave Luz a hug as soon as she stopped in front of the Owl House. That's when Boscha noticed Willow was wearing a tank top. She had never seen Willow's arms before....had Willow always been that....buff? Boscha felt heat rush to her cheeks as she couldn't help but stare at the plant track witch's toned shoulders. "Ready to run, Luz?"

"Yep! Just finishing up my stretches!" Luz chirped. 

"Then let's go!" Willow starts jogging off down the path, Luz following her. "See ya later, Boscha!" Willow called back. 

"Bye Boscha!" Luz added, as they disappeared around the side of the house. Boscha just watches them go. 

"Oh fuck...I might be too gay for my own good..." Boscha mumbled to herself, Willow's cute face and muscular arms flashing in her mind. She dropped her head onto her keyboard, letting out a discordant mess of notes. "This is not going to end well..."


	16. Chapter 16

"How much for the human horn sharpener?" A man leaned awkwardly over the pile of human items on display, getting too close for Boscha's liking. The man ran a finger over his blunt horns a moment while seemingly lost looking at the merchandise. 

Boscha put on the 'customer service smile' Eda coached her on. "That's twenty snails." 

He gives her a frown. "Twenty snails?....can you do fifteen?" 

Boscha's smile dropped. "Twenty." All three of her eyes glared at the man, daring him to try and haggle with her. 

"Fine. Twenty." He plopped a pile of snails on the table and took his large pyramid shaped human horn sharpener and disappeared back into the crowd. 

Boscha scooped up the snails and threw them into the lock box. She put an elbow on the table and leaned her chin on her hand to wait for the next lookie-loo to come by and ask stupid questions. 

She was nearly dozing off standing up when she heard a familiar voice. "Hey Boscha. Having an exciting day at work?" 

Boscha startles and lets out a weird sleepy snort as she quickly scrambles back to stand up. She sees Willow looking back at her with a small smug smirk on her face. Boscha's face flushed. "W-Willow hi! Didn't notice you...."

"Of course you didn't. Sleepin' on the job, huh?" 

Boscha, her cheeks bright red. "Well you know me, I'm a rebel with insomnia." She looks down at her hands, any excuse to not have to look at Willow's weirdly pretty green eyes. "What you doing out and about?"

"Picking stuff up for dinner tonight. It's my dad's birthday so me and my papa are gonna make him something special." She smiled warmly. 

"Cool." Boscha hazarded a look upward and caught sight of Willow carrying two large baskets full of produce and spices. "Uh...did you....maybe need help carrying stuff home or...whatever?" 

Willow gave another smirk. "Don't you need to watch the stand?" 

Boscha chuckled weakly. "Oh yeah...right...forgot..." She looked back down at her hands and absentmindedly ran her fingertips along a random human toy sitting on the table. "Well it was nice seeing you, Willow..."

She looked up and saw Willow biting her bottom lip in contemplation. "How about..." She said, sliding behind the table, setting her baskets down by her feet, and standing next to Boscha. "...I just hang out with you back here until Eda comes back. I don't have to start cooking for a few hours." 

Boscha smiled. "O-okay." She then leaned back against a stack of boxes. "But usually we don't allow customers behind the counter, but for you I'll make an exception."

Willow snorted and chuckled. "How gracious of you, Boscha." The three eyed witch gave her a grin and crossed her arms, trying to come across as coolly aloof. She doubted she succeeded with how nervous she felt. Feeling like this about Willow was still so strange...it wasn't bad. She had to be mature about this. She just didn't want to make Willow feel uncomfortable. Boscha HAD been bullying her less than half a year ago...certainly Willow is just being friendly, and not actually flirting with someone who has done nothing but caused her misery.

"You okay, Boscha?"

Boscha shook out of her thoughts at the sound of Willow's voice. "Huh? Oh, Yeah...I'm fine." She turned her eyes to the ground. 

"You looked sad all of a sudden..." Willow says quietly. 

Titan, she was had been spiraling into negative thoughts! And it was so bad even Willow noticed! How could she be so stupid. Why was she so concerned. It's just a stupid crush! ...A crush on someone who she had no right to be crushing on...She felt gross and weird. Why can't she just let people be friends with her without...without complicating it with her stupid feelings!

"...I'm fine." She said curtly before putting her head in her hands. "Sorry. I'm thinking...a lot right now...and...."

Willow wrapped her up in a hug. "It's okay, Boscha. You can be sad around friends." 

Boscha turned to better be held and let out a sigh. "...people wanting to actually be around me is weird and strangely overwhelming..." She mumbled into Willow's collarbone. 

The plant track witch squeezed a little tighter, and suddenly Boscha couldn't stop thinking about how strong Willow was. She felt herself relaxing more and more into the embrace. Even if it's a friendly hug...it felt so nice. 

"I have you."

"Thank you, Willow..." 

* * * * * 

Eda came relieved Boscha at the stand and Boscha offered to help carry one of Willow's baskets back to her house. She was certain Willow was having no issue carrying them both but, she really just didn't want to stop being near Willow. Watching her confidently talk about her plant projects, looking at her occasionally push up her glasses, the soft, almost dainty way she folded her hands when she was done gesturing during a conversation. It all was Boscha could pay attention to. 

In the blink of an eye they were already approaching Willow's house. The simple two story brick house was lined in multicolored ivy and plants hung from nearly every open window and a bit of smoke puffing out of the chimney. It felt like she'd imagined Willow's house to look like. Like a story book. Cozy. Quiet. Very green. It felt warm. 

They came to a stop in front of willow's front door. Boscha hated that she had to leave, but was afraid to even begin to ask to spend more time with Willow. She awkwardly handed the basket she was carrying to Willow, who takes it with a slight smile. "Here you go....um...thanks for hanging out with me at the stand today...and for earlier.."

Willow shifted the baskets so she easily held both of them with her forearm, so she could reach out and give Bosch a gentle touch on the shoulder. "Of course. And you know, I had a nice time with you this afternoon. You--you haven't really taken me up on having lunch together or coming to the greenhouse so...it's nice to you know...hangout with you."

Boscha's stomach fluttered. "Ye--yeah sorry...I'll definitely take you up on that soon though."

Willow smirks. "Promise?"

God this girl's face is going to kill her. "I-I promise." Boscha looked down at her feet and felt heat radiating from her cheeks. 

"Good." Willow gave Boscha another strong hug, one Boscha quickly returned. Willow waved goodbye and slipped into her house. 

Boscha found herself running her fingertips against the soft wood grain of the front door of Willow's house, as if expending all her intense want to still be near her . 

She snapped out of her gay-struck haze and pulled her hand front he door like it was red hot, and dragged it through her hair. She turned and quickly began walking toward the Owl House. 

* * * * 

After tossing and turning for hours, like many nights, Boscha finds herself with her piano in the backyard of the Owl House. She was bundled up in her blanket, playing a few chords. Suddenly a tune felt like it was forming. She fiddled with the rhythm a few times and found something she liked, suddenly was building on it. She quickly ran inside and grabbed her notebook, careful not to wake up Luz, and brought it back out to her piano. She began scribbling in chords. 

She played a little bit of what she had worked out and smiled. She looked up at the stars a moment before quickly writing down a name for her brand new song in progress.

"Willow's Door."


End file.
